Ten Year Reunion
by jackalope21
Summary: This is a sequel to A Hero Born From Fire. This story takes place after everyone graduated from Sky High. They're all in different places with new life, but some things never change.
1. Chapter 1

For anyone coming to this story late, this is the second part to A Hero Born From Fire. A basic summary of the other story is Warren met and helped save a young girl that went to his school and by the end, they were together. That's a bad summary but yeah, in a nutshell I guess. This takes place ten years later. Let me know what you think.

**Chapter One:**

"_You are cordially invited back to the halls of Sky High. It has been ten years since your last visit and we are anxious to hear about your life since you left our High School for Heroes. Please RSVP and save the date for a blast from the past! We can't wait to hear from you."_

Those were the words looking back at her as she read the small piece of stock card paper that had been hidden deep within her mail. Tricky, tricky little thing, hiding away and forcing her to read it. She would have preferred not even touching it and throwing it away until the memories of every friend she had ever made came back to her.

There was Layla, or Mrs. Stronghold rather. That still made her smile. Will and Layla would be celebrating their fourth anniversary soon… or maybe their fifth. They had become the new super hero dream team, rivaling his own parents. That was another thing that made her laugh. Last year, the original Stronghold duo had retired, much to the Commander's defiance but age was age. You can't be sixty and still fighting super villains, even if you are indestructible. So, Will and Layla took over and worked better together than anyone had really assumed.

Then you have Zach, Magenta and Ethan. Ethan was working, last she heard, as a teacher at Sky High. He had taken over for the Hero Support curriculum and along with Mr. Boy, were showing people how sidekicks really could be the heroes too. It was a sweet thing given how many times, even since their freshman year of school, that sidekicks like them had actually come out the hero.

Zach and Magenta have still been off and on since high school. The only real reason being their schools were so far apart and long distance was never Zach's strong suit. The last she had heard, he was working in a comic book store. He didn't so it for the money, or really any reason other than he loved what he did. Kids, normal kids, would come in gushing about heroes and he would get to sit down and tell them about how he had saved the Commander and Jetstream's life, how he went to high school with the greatest heroes and villains of the last ten years. Magenta was writing a book about something.

To be honest, Aryana hadn't paid much attention to anyone in the past couple of years, unable to really do so. She talked to Layla on the phone often, even seeing her when they would cross paths, but not really anyone else. She was a hero now, a real one with respect and everything despite being her father's daughter, but she also had a real job. Her paying job, not even really a cover, was counseling children of super villains. It seemed fitting. After all, she was the daughter of the worst. So, it wasn't really a cover ID given her patient's knew who she was, but it was a paying job. So, between that, actual super hero-ing, and a couple other things, having coffee with your friends wasn't as possible as you'd like. That, and she had moved the hell out of Maxville about eight and a half years ago anyway.

As she flipped through her yearbook, reminiscing about everything, she came across a picture she had thought she had scratched up or blacked out. She was wrong. There, looking back at her through his long hair, was Warren.

Ah Warren Peace, someone she was interested to see. Part of her hoped he had turned into a villain and was sent to a super max prison to live out the rest of his days like his daddy even though she knew it wasn't true. If it was, it would have been all over the headlines. The media and public love to see people like her and Warren fall into their parent's footsteps. The media always seemed to refer to it as _inescapable aftermath of horrible parenting_, or something along those lines.

She hadn't spoken to, about, or even mentioned in passing, Warren for years. There weren't many good memories that came from the man anymore. The last time they had spoken to one another, they had actually burned the entire interior of the room they were in, scorch marks on the walls and every piece of furniture smoldering. They were too hot tempered and hot blooded to have lasted long anyway. Fire was unpredictable and with the right kind of fuel, burned hot and burned fast or just exploded when it reached its peek like it did with them.

Still, she thought about him more than she'd like to. He was, after all, the first guy she ever cared about and he helped her more than she could ever repay him for. His mother too. She still talked to Joyce often, more often than anyone else really. The woman was the closest thing to a mother Aryana had since her own died. But, like with her friends, she never brought up Warren unless Aryana asked about him. They did it out of respect and she was thankful for it.

"Baby, you home!"

The voice brought her from her thoughts when she realized that she was no longer alone.

"Yeah!" she called from the living room. "In here."

A moment later, he emerged, leaning over her on the couch and kissing her head before noticing the yearbook. A chuckle left his lips.

"Really? Reliving the good ol' days?" he teased, walking around the couch and sitting next to her.

Aryana curled to his side, bringing the yearbook to sit on his lap so they could both look at it.

"I got this in the mail today." she said simply, pulling the invitation out of the mail pile and showing it to him.

"Ah," he smiled, reading the cheesy writing. "So we going?"

She shrugged, flipping the page of her book.

"Haven't really decided yet."

"Oh come on. You have to go." he laughed. "You have to show off your beautiful home, your perfect career and your godly fiancé."

"Godly?" she asked with a blatant laugh, turning and eying the man beside her. "Really?"

"Hey, I've got fan girls calling my name all the time."

"That's because you pose for pictures!" she declared with a laugh. "I mean, come on."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." he chuckled, looping his arm over her shoulder, looking back to the book. "Be glad you're marrying the awesome Cyclone."

She only laughed at the man beside her. She still had no idea how the two of them even got along as well as they did, a water storm producing hero and a fire manipulating demon woman. It was too ridiculous to her, but a hero was really her only option for a spouse. They were the only ones that understood everything she did and didn't seem to mind her… traits. So, she just shoved him gently in the gut with her elbow as he reached for the book and turned the page again, looking for a picture of her.

"Oh come on," he grumbled, not finding any. "There's got to be something here for me to laugh at."

"Hey!" she snapped playfully, shoving him again. "Just because you looked like a nerd in high school, doesn't mean everyone else did."

"I wasn't a nerd." he defended. "I was just…"

"Socially inept?"

"Exactly." he smiled, turning the page and finding one. "Hey!" his expression soon dropped. "Oh… yeah, not this one."

Aryana glanced down and realized it was one of her and her friends, all of them, at prom. They had been told to pose together, _future heroes_ under the picture. It wasn't that it was a good picture of her, it was who's arm she was under. Aryana scowled lightly at the picture of her and Warren before grabbing a chunk of the book and flipping it.

Jason leaned back and let her do what she wanted to. A moment later, she produced her senior picture.

"That's about the best you'll get." she smiled, heaving herself off the couch when her cell phone began ringing.

Jason looked at the picture of her with her hair back and one of those wraps they made the girls wear so their shoulders were bare. She had a light smile and makeup. He scowled.

"This so doesn't count!" he called back.

Aryana just smiled to herself as she answered her phone.

"Hello?" she laughed.

"_Hey Aryana!"_

"Layla? Hey!" she chimed with a wide smile. "I was just thinking about you and Will."

"_So you got one too huh?"_ she laughed.

Aryana rolled her eyes.

"I don't know yet. Don't try to force me."

"_Me?"_ she mocked insult. "_I'd never."_

Aryana smiled and shook her head, leaning onto the island in her kitchen.

"So I guess that means the Stronghold family's going?"

"_Well, I did technically graduate with you guys." _

It was true. Despite being a year younger, Layla had wanted to take summer classes, gaining credits as she went which put her square in Aryana's class at graduation time. She, until Tony went to Sky High, was the youngest graduate at sixteen. Tony beat her by four years.

"_So yup, I'm dragging Will."_ she laughed.

"How's he feel about that?" she laughed.

"_Probably the same as you. He's curious but it's the whole, going back thing, that he's not to sure about. He's kind of worried people are going to start asking him a bunch of questions."_

"It's a reunion. That's all they do. Everyone wants to try and make their life look better than everyone else's. Only difference is, most of us have it documented in the papers." she mused. "How's the town acting about it?"

"_Excited. I mean, they obviously don't know exactly what's going on, but they all know a bunch of heroes are coming back."_

"Do they expect us to walk around in our costumes or something?"

"_They're throwing a parade."_ she laughed.

Aryana sighed, shaking her head.

"So that's a yes." Aryana smiled weakly. "Maybe I will show up. I've got some unfinished business there anyway."

"_So you're going to talk to…"_

"Eh!" Aryana said abruptly, putting an end to the question Layla was about to ask. "What's our rule?"

Layla sighed.

"_That we don't mention his name."_

Aryana smiled to herself.

"Yup. But no, it's got nothing to do with that. I've just got to deal with some other ghosts, that's all."

"_So does that mean you're coming home?" Layla swooned, most likely making a face Aryana would laugh at. She laughed anyway, picturing it in her head._

"Yeah, I'll be there. When is this thing again?"

"_Next Saturday so, week and a half."_

"Cutting it kind of close aren't they?"

"_It's not like half of us can really take time off work."_

"Point taken. All right, well tell Will I said hi and I guess I'll see you later."

"_When's later?"_

"Uh… I don't really know. Friday before the reunion?" she asked, feeling already that was the wrong answer.

"_Nope, that's not going to work for me._" Layla teased. _"Why not just come a week ahead? At least that way we can hang out at least a little bit, catch up."_

Aryana thought about it for a moment. She should really go to see Tony and it would be nice to take some time off work for a while to go back to Maxville. A smile touched her lips.

"All right. You're on. I'll see if I can get there some time this weekend."

"_Great._" she laughed. "_Jason coming too?"_

"Hey sweetie, you want to go to the reunion?"

He kept reading her yearbook but held up a 'thumbs up' to show his compliance. She shook her head.

"That'd be a yes." she laughed. "I'll call you soon?"

"_Can't wait to hear from you. Bye Aryana."_

"See you later Hippie." she smiled, hanging up before walking back to the couch and sitting. "So, you want to fly up there with me?"

"When you plan on leaving?" he asked absently.

"Well, it's Wednesday so… I'm booked through Friday… Saturday?"

"Gonna stay all week?"

She nodded.

"Yeah. I'll fly home Sunday morning after the reunion."

"Well, I'll have to meet you up there then." he sighed, closing the book to look at her. "I have to work until Thursday. I mean, I'm off this weekend but I've got appointments all next week."

"Can't cancel them?" she asked, slightly hopeful.

He smiled, laughing under his breath as he pulled her onto his lap. She obliged, hugging his side.

"Not really. I mean, probably some earlier in the week but what's the point when I have to be there Thursday?" he asked rhetorically.

She stuck out her tongue and made the childish noise. He chuckled and grabbed her, playfully pulling her down onto her back in the couch and kissing her neck making her giggle. This was her life now and up until a few moments ago, it had been perfect. Memories were the destroyer of happiness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Airports.

Airports were designed by the Devil, employed by demons and Hell to all who entered it. She hated, _hated_ airports with an unrivaled passion that literally made her want to light one on fire. Security took too long and that was before they felt you up. She felt like burning them every time they touched her. The only good thing was, not many people could actually touch her skin for too long without their palms sweating so they didn't linger. Then you had to weave through herds of tourists and people just as pissed off as you before cramming into a tiny seat and sitting for hours on end.

Airports…

She would have flown herself if it wasn't so damn far away. Aryana currently resided in New York City, two thousand miles plus away from Maxville. That was just too long and too far to fly. Although now, being squeezed between two rather large individuals, she had the distinct thought that perhaps she would just get off on their connecting flight and fly the rest of the way herself. She'd most likely get there around the same time as the flight but have a lot more fun doing it and be more comfortable. Besides, it wasn't like she had checked baggage. Yup, she was going to fly herself from Denver.

Like planned, she all but ran away from the plane and once outside the airport, walked onto the highest point of the parking garage, removed her jacket, held her duffle bag tightly, and launched herself into the air. The cold air was so much nicer, being able to stretch out and actual enjoy herself. It may take a while but it was sooo worth it.

The sun began to set and she knew she was close. GPS on cell phones was wonderful. She was just outside Maxville and slowed enough she could actually call her ride. The phone rang.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey Layla." Aryana laughed at her confusion.

"_You're not on the plane are you?"_ she asked, slightly annoyed at the intense wind in the background.

"I was not about to sit between Shrek and Fiona the whole way here." she defended. Layla laughed. "You at the airport?"

"_Yeah. At your baggage claim waiting actually."_

"Go ahead and meet me at the parking garage. Top floor. I'll be there in about five."

"_You got it."_

And with that, they hung up. Aryana had to admit, she was more excited than she thought she'd be at the thought of seeing her old friends. Wearing a wide smile, she began to make her way closer to the ground, sure to avoid hitting any planes or frightening any of the radar people.

When the parking garage was in view, she saw a young woman in green with brilliant red hair and felt like her face would go numb from the smile. Layla was standing there, looking into the air for her friend when the wide wingspan caught her eyes. She smiled wide and waved, receiving one of her own before Aryana brought her body down and with one final flap, glided to the ground. Her wings instantly sank back into her back as she rushed her friend and hugged her tightly.

"Oh my god you look so good." Aryana sighed. "I love your hair."

"You look so different." Layla beamed. "I love yours too." she laughed.

Layla Stronghold. She definitely didn't look like the same little hippie from before. She was taller, though not by much, and had actually filled out a little. She was a curvy woman now but still lean given her constant crime fighting life. Her hair, which had always been brilliant red/orange, was a deep blood red with nearly orange highlights. It was longer than it had been, a bit further passed her shoulders and wavy, not tightly curled anymore. Her skin was still fair and light but she looked like a woman, not an innocent child. In all honesty, she was stunning.

"So," she finally chimed. "You ready to get out of here and see what's become of Maxville?"

Aryana shook her head with a laugh.

"Sure." she shrugged, still smiling. "Why not?"

Layla smiled and looped her arm around her friend's and led her to the car on the first level of the garage.

As they drove through the streets towards Aryana's hotel, she couldn't believe how much it still resembled the same city. Aside from newer businesses and things like that, it looked almost the exact same. It was staggering.

"Wow. I would've thought it'd change a little bit." she sighed, sitting back in her seat.

Layla shrugged.

"Not really." she smiled. "So, what are your plans while you're here?"

"I don't really know. Have a look around I guess."

Layla smiled as she rounded the corner to the hotel.

"Well, we're _supposed_ to have dinner around eight. You want to join us?"

"I'd love to." she smiled, leaning forward and hugging her friend. "I'll give you a call then okay?"

"I'll see you later."

Aryana smiled to her friend and exited the car with her duffle before walking into the hotel. She got her room key, the top floor with a balcony, and fell lazily onto her bed. She was tired from her exertion but more curious than anything. So, she took a shower, changed and headed out to walk through the streets of the city she had grown up in.

Aryana walked leisurely through the streets, staring at shops that hadn't been there before and ones that it seemed would never leave. The wind whipped through the buildings, sending a chill through her for a brief second before her own body heat corrected the action. It was supposed to be unnaturally cold this coming week but it didn't help that it was already late September. Why they had decided to do the reunion now she didn't know. Although, laughing to herself, she figured they might just reuse decorations from the Homecoming dance this year for their reunion. She shook her head with a smile and kept walking.

Before she knew it, her feet had taken her somewhere she didn't want to go. To her old neighborhood. For some reason, being in her old hometown, apparently she had moved back into her old routines and now she was walking to the house she hated so forcefully. She stood at the driveway, staring at the looming structure.

It was dilapidated, run down and all around rotting where it stood. No one had lived in the house for nearly ten years and she had made sure to it. When Aryana turned eighteen, she had been given a rather impressive amount of money. She didn't really know where it had come from until a lawyer had contacted her the day after. He told her this was what remained of her father's estate, the little he had before he died although _little_ wasn't exactly the right word. Apparently, he had stashed some of his money under her name so it wouldn't be touched by the government and it worked. So, the cash he had hidden had done nothing but grow in interest, going to her when she was a legal adult.

The house the Roberts used to own had gone into foreclosure not long after their arrest and sat vacant for a while. It was well publicized who had lived there and what they had done and that coupled with how bad the condition of the home was, no one wanted it. So, when she'd turned eighteen, she bought the hunk of junk for pennies on the dollar and just let it sit there. She didn't want anyone to live in it and she didn't know what to do with it either. She sure as hell wasn't going to live there.

And now, the house she had tried so hard to ignore, was right before her. The paint had all but chipped away through the years, windows being knocked out from either storms or the most likely, kids throwing rocks. Shudders hung loose, roof was peeling back in some areas and vines growing up the sides. It looked like an old haunted house and that's what it was to her. Just standing there, she could hear the yells, screaming and fighting that seemed to have sunk into the wood, to remain behind for future generations. Aryana found herself scowling at the dwelling, her fingers begging to ignite.

Anger and hurt surged through her veins mixing with the white hot rage of the years of abuse she had endured at the hand of those people. Her face contorted in pain, tears burning her eyes, Aryana's hands lit up into a brilliant mixture of blue and white fire, the hottest possible temperature. Before she could stop herself, she screamed her frustration and launched one fireball after another at the home.

The fire ripped through the windows, igniting all of the dry furniture within. The remaining curtains in the windows were engulfed in fire in seconds and still she persisted. Her barrage of fire continued, blowing holes through the walls, the door coming off it's hinges with one particular hit. She just screamed, releasing all of her anger, her pain, everything she had held beneath the stoic figure she showed everyone else.

Finally, when the house was saturated in the blaze, fire licking every piece of aged and dried wood it could find, all of it adding fuel to the inferno, she stopped. Aryana just stood there, staring at the two story bonfire she had created. She heard the wood crack and splinter under the fire, smoke billowing high into the air. Tears stained her cheeks, her anger raging so much that only the first few had turned to steam before the rest remained behind. And still she stood there, watching as the roof caved in onto itself.

She was breathing heavily, scowling at the display until her rage and anger began to dissipate. Slowly, as the walls caved in on themselves, she brought her hands forward and concentrated. She took deep, steadying breaths and slowly but surely, diminished the fire. Flames hesitated but began to flicker down as they lost their power. Eventually, the house was reduced to nothing more than a smoldering heap of wood, resembling nothing of the structure it had been before.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself, finally bringing her mind back into reality. She heard sirens in the distance and knew someone had called the fire department. They wouldn't be needed but they were more than welcome to try and figure out what had happened. They'd have to do it without her though.

Aryana turned to walk back down the street, seeing few to no one anywhere. The neighborhood even looked the same, the trees bigger, but that was about all. As the wind moved her hair around her face, a man on a bike sped by. She saw him turn his dark helmet towards her before speeding off down the street towards the sirens and figured that was her signal. She didn't need anyone to pinpoint her location and tie her history to the house. Being the owner, she'd already be getting a phone call telling her the house burned down.

So, deciding to cut down on the witnesses, Aryana began to walk towards the old park only to find it gone. A home stood there, a few actually, and it made her slightly sad. She creased her brow as she walked up to the homes that were on the sacred grounds of the playground. She wondered if the people that lived there knew this had been her sanctuary as a child. Probably not. The thought made her smile slightly when something else caught her attention. The Peace household.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

She stood there for a moment, staring at the house in the distance and wondering if she should say hello. She wanted to, she really did, but there was the risk of seeing Warren and that was a higher risk than she wanted to attempt. Still, there was a lingering feeling that she couldn't ignore. So, thinking better, Aryana grabbed her phone and dialed the woman's number. If anything, she'd be able to know if he was there or expected.

"_Hello?"_ Joyce asked in her kind voice.

"Hi Joyce. It's Aryana."

"_Oh!"_ she chimed loudly, forcing the young woman to hold the phone away from her ear despite the smile she bore. _"I was just thinking about you! Oh, are you in town for the reunion?"_

"Yes ma'am." she laughed.

"_Well you better come and see me."_ she scolded half heartedly.

"Well, what are you doing now?"

"_Right now, nothing. I have a doctor's appointment later, but that's not for another half an hour."_

"How about I come see you now?" she asked, already having picked up her walking again as a fire truck came screaming around the corner.

"_Oh I'd love that."_ she smiled. "_What on earth is that noise?"_

"A fire truck." Aryana laughed as she reached the door. "The old Roberts house caught fire."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Aryana laughed again when she heard shuffling on the other side of the door before it suddenly swung open. Joyce stood there, surprised and shocked for a moment.

"Hi." she waved lightly, wondering if the older woman was going to have a heart attack.

Suddenly, she screamed, rushing forward and hugging Aryana tightly, almost bouncing in her spot. The young woman laughed as she hugged her foster mother tightly before pulling back.

"Oh, you're here. You're actually back in town." she smiled wide. "It's been too long!" she beamed before catching sight of the display, the flashing lights the only thing visible from her house, and started to weakly slap the young woman's arm. "What did you do?"

"Nothing." she laughed, waiting for the woman to stop. "At least, nothing that didn't need to be done."

Joyce sighed heavily.

"Well come on in out of the cold." she said, ushering the young woman into the house and into a seat in the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink? Eat?"

"I'm fine." she laughed, pulling off her jacket and throwing it over the back of the chair. "So, how've you been?"

"Oh fine." she sighed, taking her seat across the young woman. "Just getting old."

"You're not old Joyce."

The older woman only smiled, taking a sip of her tea.

"So, tell me what you've been up to lately. It's been a while since I've talked to you. Even longer since you've come home."

Aryana fidgeted at the tone of the woman's voice and looked away.

"I know." she sighed, knowing it had been nearly a decade since she'd been back. "I've just been busy."

Joyce didn't believe the lie anymore than Aryana did but didn't press it.

"So, how's work?"

"Good, it's good. I'm working all the time anymore. I barely have a moment to myself." she smiled. "But, I love what I do."

"I guess you like it all the way over on the East coast then huh?"

She nodded.

"Doesn't it get cold? I mean, it snows there."

Aryana cocked a brow to the smaller woman, a smile tugging on her lips.

"I know, I know. I forgot. You and Warren don't feel the cold much." she said with an exaggerated sigh. "Lucky. I'd never survive."

"It's not too bad once you get used to it."

"And all those people?"

Aryana shrugged.

"Don't bother me. I don't really walk the streets to get around."

"I know." she beamed. "There was a picture of you in the newspaper not too long ago, accepting some kind of award."

"How would you know that?"

"Oh I check the Times." she laughed. "Let me see where I put that…"

Joyce stood and went about looking for the piece of paper while Aryana took in her surroundings. Nothing had really changed. People don't realize that yes, ten years in a long time, but some things don't really change in that amount of time. In fact, wall paint, furniture, things like that don't really change often so it's not too surprising when they've stayed the same. Although, the furniture was new, less of it too. Joyce seemed to have gotten a normal sized couch versus the huge sectional she had owned when Aryana had lived there. It looked better this way.

There were still pictures on the walls, Aryana in a couple, paintings and so forth. Everything just looked so much like it had before, it was almost heartbreaking, bringing back all kinds of memories Aryana had tried to forget. The smile she had worn began to fade as her eyes turned down the hall, stopping at the doorway next to her own. She stood, walking towards the two. Glancing into her old room first, she laughed when she realized it was still the exact same, down to the blankets on the bed. Shaking her head with the laugh, Aryana glanced to her left. The door was ajar and she could already smell the cologne Warren used to wear coming from within. He never wore real cologne, but the spray deodorant or whatever it was, had a specific scent and even to this day it reminded her of him.

"Here it is!"

Aryana jumped slightly, jolted out of her train of thought. She shook her head and plastered her fake smile before emerging.

"You kept my room the same?" she teased lightly.

"Of course." Joyce laughed, holding a book in her arms. "Warren's too. You never know when the two of you might come home."

"You are one goofy woman." she mused.

"Ah, you say that but look at today." she smiled, setting the book on the table. "Not only did you come to see me, but so did he."

Aryana felt cold sweep through her back, the smile fleeing her face.

"He was here?"

"Mhm," she replied simply, looking down as she opened the scrapbook. "Left just before you called in fact."

The man on the bike. That son of a bitch! He drove right by her and didn't even hesitate. So what, was she not worth a hello, a wave, something? Anger began to return before Joyce cleared her throat. Glancing down, Aryana realized the book she held was not only a scrapbook, but a scrapbook about her. A smile tugged as her lips as she sat next to the older woman.

"See here," Joyce smiled, pointing to a newspaper article that had been glued to the page, Aryana standing there in costume, her wings on display as the Mayor of a little New Hampshire town gave her the key to the city for stopping a raging forest fire from engulfing their city. "This is the one I found online. And this one," she said, finding another picture and continuing on.

She smiled and answered questions when Joyce had them, marveling that the woman had kept a scrapbook documenting everything Aryana had done since she graduated high school. It was flattering to say the least, but the smile was fake. For some reason, Aryana couldn't take her mind off the fact that the one riding by on the motorcycle earlier had been Warren and he hadn't so much as acknowledged her presence.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

He had received an invitation in the mail, just like he assumed everyone else did, alerting him to the fact there was a reunion coming soon. He scowled at the small piece of paper, not in much mood to actually go back to Maxville and rehash old times with the people that he barely knew to begin with. If he had actually attained more than a half dozen friends than perhaps he would have considered it but there was no real point. The ones he was friends with weren't even in his age group let alone his grade. That was, save _her_.

He sighed to himself, rubbing the top of his head as he tried not to go down that mental road. He had more important things to think about than whether or not _she_ would be there. At the moment, he was trying to get ready for work and couldn't afford the time it would take to even bother thinking about _her_. He couldn't even think about references to _her_ without stressing the word with some amount of animosity. Shaking his head, Warren stepped out of the bathroom in his apartment and moved to his closet, throwing the towel around his waist in the laundry basket before adorning the suit he wore everyday.

He was Mr. Peace now, not Warren, not Barron Battle's son, Mr. Peace. He was constantly teased for his name at work, but what did you expect when a prosecutor was named Peace? It brought people plenty of fun. He had to admit, he liked the ring of it too. They would hear his name and assume that was what he was until they found out he had one of the best records for convictions for someone his age and given how long he'd actually been practicing. He was ruthless and it gave him the perfect outlet for his rage issues.

Grabbing his tie, he went about putting it on in the mirror of his closet, trying to forget that _she_ had taught him how to do it, and tightened it. He would give the invitation some thought, but not much. He had more pressing matters on his mind at the moment. Right now, today, he was waiting to hear the verdict on a case that had been dominating the better part of his time for the last two months. Damn super villains. They made things all the harder when it came to sentencing. Nine times out of ten, they would gladly tell you what they did and why but this guy…

He called himself Black Mist. He was apparently capable of using the shadows to move through walls. He had been at large for almost six months, stealing hundreds of thousands, if not bordering on more, in jewels, cash, everything possible. The hunt for him got worse however when he killed a guard in the process. Apparently, the guard had tried to stop him by grabbing a hold of a piece of his costume. Black Mist in turn phased through the wall where the guard had let go, his body now a piece of the wall. Needless to say, he died instantly.

His defense attorney didn't deny the robberies, freely offering deal after deal for them, but refused to accept the murder charge. They had been arguing that it was the guard's fault, that it he had just let their client walk away with the money, he would still be alive. It was ridiculous. Whether or not it was true didn't matter. Fact was, he killed an innocent man and that's that. Still, they wouldn't let it go, bringing witness after witness, expert after expert to testify about _why_ this couldn't possibly be Mist's fault. It was a circus.

But Warren wasn't worried. Juries didn't like super villains. Even worse than super villains, were super villains that thought they should get a free ride one something they did. He didn't understand why they even bothered risking a trial anymore. They were going to convict him, it was as easy as that, he was just curious how many life sentences they would give the man. And that wasn't even including all of the thefts.

As he made his way into the court room, Warren found himself thinking about _her_ again. He stood as the judge and jury read their verdicts, thinking about Aryana, about what she had been up to in their years apart, about everything. He was so deep in thought that he hadn't realized the verdict was read until his supporting council slapped his back with a smile. He snapped into reality and returned the action. He'd hear the important bit later, the years involved, he just knew he'd won.

The court room had slowly began to empty, the family of the victim smiling and cheering as Mist was led off to Perdition Super Max for two life terms, and that was just the murder. He wouldn't get out in more than two hundred years, parole in one twenty-five. Warren was busy putting his files away, not much paying attention to what was going on as people filed out of the court room, his co-council offering to speak with the press first. He obliged, standing there for a moment before his phone rang. He took it from his pocket and smiled when he saw _mom_ flashing back.

"Yeah?" he answered.

She let out a loud sigh.

"_I swear, one of these days I'd love to hear a 'hi mom, how are you?'"_ she teased before mocking his greeting. _"Not, yeah."_

"Hi mom, how are you?" he repeated.

"_Much better."_ she smiled. "_I'm watching the news right now. I take it you won your case?"_

"Yeah, two hundred years." he chuckled. "Now hopefully they can keep him in the jail this time."

"_Well how come you're not on TV? Why is that obnoxious Andrews taking the credit?"_

He chuckled again, snapping his briefcase shut.

"He likes the press more than me mom." Warren replied simply. "So, did you call to congratulate me?"

"_Of course. Not every day my son wins a case."_ she laughed.

Warren paused for a moment. He could tell there was something else.

"But…"

"_Well,"_ she exaggerated the word, delaying before actually saying why she'd called him. "_I was wondering if you got anything interesting in the mail lately?"_

Warren couldn't believe his ears. Leave it to his mother to know the exact moment he got something like his high school reunion invitation.

"No mom, I'm not going."

"_Why?"_ she whined, as though personally offended. "_It could be fun. You never know."_

"Oh I already have a pretty good idea."

"_Oh you do not, so don't lie."_ she snapped annoyed. "_Now, you're coming home and going to that reunion young man."_

Warren openly laughed.

"I'm not a kid anymore. You can't tell me what to do."

"_Want to bet?"_

There was a daring in her voice that made him pause for a moment.

"I'll think about it." he replied with a sigh.

"_That's all I ask."_

Yeah right…

"_So, you still coming home for the weekend?"_

"I should probably concentrate on working."

"_Oh you work enough, now come and see your mother. It's not like you're all that far off. It's only an hour to get here."_

He sighed, shaking his head.

"You're not going to let this go are you woman?"

"_Don't you woman me young man. I'm still your mother."_ she threatened halfheartedly.

"Yes ma'am." he grumbled, causing her to laugh lightly on the other end. "I'll be there Saturday morning okay?"

"_That's my boy."_ she smiled. _"I'll let you get back to your job. I love you sweetie."_

Warren paused, looking around the room to make sure no one was paying attention to him.

"Love you too ma." he replied before snapping his phone shut.

Always on purpose. She always seemed to know when he was surrounded by people and forced him to say it. Sighing and shaking his head lightly at the crafty old woman, Warren grabbed his things and headed back to the office before making plans to head home for a day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Warren rode his bike up to Maxville and enjoyed the time to clear his head. He had gone home after work and for some unknown, random reason that he still couldn't pinpoint, opened the small scrapbook his mother had made him. He never bought a yearbook, never wanted one and it was a waste of money, so his mother being an overly crafty and sentimental woman, made him a small scrapbook. It was nowhere near as thick or 'detailed' as hers were, but had the same basic pieces to it.

It was a small notebook with a band that kept it closed. It was only about seven inches long, five inches wide. Small. It was just the right size for a single four by six picture to be glued in place and simple writing beneath it. And that was exactly what it was.

When he had put his things up and changed out of the monkey suit, Warren had moved to an old box in his closet, covered in dust from sitting far in the back, and pulled it out. He wasn't remotely sentimental but there was a small handful of things he would never get rid of. Taking the object, he sat on the chair near his bed and opened it. Smiling back at him was a picture of his family when they were still whole, coupled with newspaper articles about his dad and a few other things. Underneath them all was the small little notebook. He took it, setting the rest aside as he opened it.

The first picture was the first one ever taken of him and Aryana. They looked relatively blank, stunned really, when his mother attacked them before leaving for homecoming. It wasn't a bad picture, not really, but he was surprised she had even found a decent one in the barrage of pictures. Beneath it was their names, the date and event. Standard mother thing to do.

He turned the page and it was better than the first. It was the two of them, as were damn near all of the pictures in this thing, but this one had been expected. They were actually dating at this point and had bravely told his mother. She seemed oddly overjoyed about it, at first. Until she realized their rooms were side by side but soon enough, she was over the weirdness and was just happy Warren hadn't scared her off.

After that, there were nearly a dozen more pictures. One was of the two of them at a beach, Aryana's idea, smiling in the sun. Another was them at another dance their junior prom. After that was another couple of dances and them at graduation in their caps and gowns, Warren actually managing a grin while Aryana smiled wide. Then there was about two more, them dating after high school. There had been a great deal more pictures than that taken, given who his mother was, but she only gave him the ones she thought encompassed his happiness too, or she thought was the cutest. The last one however, was just her.

Warren paused for a moment, taking the picture out of the little black corner pieces that held it in place, and examined the picture. It was a close up of her face, her hair moving around. The wind he assumed. She was smiling happily, biting her bottom lip with one of her fanged teeth and looking happy. He just sat there, staring at it before everything that had happened between them came screaming back. Scowling, Warren placed the picture back in the book and snapped it shut, tossing it into the box and kicking the box under the bed.

He shook his head as he continued his drive, nearly missing his exit while thinking about that damn book. He still wasn't sure why he hadn't torched the damn thing. Part of him made a mental note to do it later though he knew, majority of him at least, that it would never happen. No matter how he wanted to, he just never would.

As he made his way through the familiar streets of his neighborhood, he found himself pausing in front of the old Roberts place. He had slowed his bike and stopped, propping himself up on his foot at the sight of the run down piece of shit. He scowled at it, glaring his hatred at what he knew had happened within those walls. It sent a shudder down his back and slapping his face mask down, Warren made his way down the street to his mother's house. If he knew who had owned it, he would do them the favor and burn it down. He wanted to buy it too, and would have if he had the chance, but someone else beat him to it and let an already shitty house go straight to hell. Part of him still wanted to burn it down though, if anything so it wasn't a black mark on the neighborhood.

He pulled his bike into it's old, familiar parking spot behind the hedge and cut the engine. He pulled his helmet off and didn't even make it to the front step before the door was swung open and his beaming mother was standing into the entryway. Before he could even say hello, she had wrapped her arms around him.

"Hey mom." he laughed, hugging her tightly.

"Oh it's good to have you home again." she sighed, kissing him lightly on his cheek.

"It's only been a couple months."

"Too long." she snapped, lightly swatting his arm. "Now come on. Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

He only chuckled under his breath as she looped her arm under his and pulled him into the house. She was the kind of person that _needed_ someone to take care of and without that, she'd go absolutely insane.

"Sit, sit." she instructed, moving into the kitchen to fix him something.

"I'm fine mom." he called, unable to keep the grin from his lips. He shook his head, sighing to himself. "Crazy old woman." he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that!" she called from the kitchen.

Warren looked shocked at the kitchen doorway, half expecting her to lob something at him, breathing easier when she hadn't. But as he sat there, listening to her clanking things around, Warren's eyes went to the house around him. It'd never really change. This was where he grew up and it'd always be the same. As his eyes traveled around however, they came to stop on the door closest to the corner of the hall. His back tensed. He glanced over to see where his mother might have been and seeing it was clear, he heaved himself up and walked towards the room.

The door was closed. He paused for a moment, hesitating when he grabbed the knob. With a sure breath, he pushed it open and looked inside. Her room was the exact same it had been since the day she left, nothing changed. Not even the years of her absence could take the smell of her perfume out of the air. It was engrained in the walls. Shaking himself too, Warren returned to his seat, acting as though he had never gotten up in the first place.

A few hours had passed and Joyce had asked Warren for a favor before he left for the night. He almost always went home after spending the day with her so she wanted to make sure he helped her while she needed it. She had told him she had a prescription that should be ready in about a half an hour and was hoping he could pick it up for her. When he asked why, she said it was simple. He was her son and she had a doctor's appointment later so if it wasn't ready, she couldn't sit there and wait for it. Apparently that was a problem with this particular pharmacist. So, reluctantly, he nodded and agreed he'd try to be back before she had her appointment.

After getting on his bike and heading out, Warren knew he had to go the way he came. There were shorter ways out of the neighborhood from his house, but this pharmacy was on the other side of town so he knew where he had to go. He had to cut through the other side, driving pass that Roberts home again. What he hadn't expected however, was to see someone standing there.

He slowed his bike down near the corner before, almost a block away, wondering what the hell they were doing. They were just standing there, staring at the house. It was a young woman from the looks of it and the only thing that told him that was the knee length boots she was wearing over her jeans. The black was easy to see over the dark denim. Something about this didn't seem right to him, the young woman's hands slowly coming out of her black petticoat's pockets.

Out of nowhere, blue and white fire sprung to life in her hands and with a yell, she launched a repeated barrage of fire at the home. He watched, unable to really move, everything making so much sense, as _she_ destroyed her childhood home. After a while, she stopped her tirade, standing back and watching the structure burn. Warren did the same, delighting at the destruction and poetic justice of it all. As he smiled at the scene, sirens sounded in the distance. Aryana seemed to notice and with a talent he didn't know she had, reduced the flames to nothing once more, a smoldering heap of burned rubble left behind.

Warren eyed the destruction as he got back onto his bike, throwing his face plate down so she wouldn't see him. He sped off, driving pass the woman. She turned when he drove by, staring directly at him. He felt his breath hitch as everything seemed to move in slow motion. He saw everything, the young woman huddled in her coat, her hair swaying around her face when the wind blew by and her bright silver eyes complete with tears on her cheeks, glued to him without an iota of recognition. When their eye contact broke, he sped off down the street to run the errand his mother had given him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

By the time Warren had come back, the fire department along with the cops were at the Roberts place. He assumed they were trying to find some source of arson but they never would. It would be impossible to tell that a super used her powers to burn down the home. But let them look, sift through the rubble for an accelerant.

Avoiding any prolonged contact with the scene, he set off towards his mother's house. He suddenly stopped, skidding to a halt and making sure he wasn't seen. Standing on the front porch was his mother and Aryana. They were speaking to one another, smiling sweetly and hugging each other. His mother kissed her gently on the cheek before Aryana stepped out onto the walkway, far enough from the house for what she planned to do.

Holding her jacket in her hands, Aryana's wings suddenly burst free from her back. Despite the cold, she wore a spaghetti strapped shirt, one with a lower back. What people didn't seem to realize was her wings didn't exactly come out of nowhere. They were actually attacked to her body so when they came out, they ripped and shredded whatever covered it. So, now that she knew she could fly, she tended to either wear backless, or low backed shirts to avoid the cost of clothing. But now, standing there with her wings slowly moving as she breathed, Warren watched as she stretched the immense appendages out and swatted them down.

Air, dust, debris of all kinds shot up from the force of her taking off into the air. Joyce had covered her face to keep from getting dirt in her eyes as the young woman soared high above them, soon disappearing into the low hanging autumn clouds and out of sight. With her gone, Warren continued on to his childhood home. It may seem stupid, him avoiding her like this, but no one knows the details of their breakup and he would prefer to keep it that way. It was none of their business to begin with and if they did know, they'd understand the avoidance.

"Warren sweetie," Joyce chimed as he pulled up the drive. "You just missed Aryana."

He only nodded, pulling off his helmet and reaching into his jacket for her prescription. Joyce walked forward, eying her son for a moment. He met her eyes and saw a sadness lingering in her features.

"How long's it been since you've talked to her?" she asked sadly.

He just stared at her, not wanting to really say. Without answering, he zipped up his jacket and leaned over to his mother, kissing her cheek kindly.

"I'll see you later mom." he said simply.

She sighed as he put his helmet on. This was his signal he was going home, his home, and wasn't likely to come back unless he was going to the reunion.

"Okay. Just… be careful. You riding around on that thing makes me nervous."

He chuckled briefly to himself.

"I will. Bye." he replied, backing out of the driveway and disappearing down the street.

"_How long has it been?"_ he thought to himself. _"Eight years, seven months and about two and a half weeks. Not long enough."_

0o0

Aryana closed her eyes as she flew through the air towards the hotel, doing a barrel roll or two just because she could. She giggled like a little girl every time she did it too, it was just unrivaled fun. Her hotel was close so she lowered herself, landing on her balcony and walking inside as her wings vanished again. She threw her jacket onto the bed as she reached for her duffle. Taking it, she flopped down into a chair and rifled through for the thing she wanted to find.

She had brought it with her, a small box with all of her jewelry and what have you, just like she always did. It was wrapped tightly in socks, a bra and underwear, a jumbled mess of fabric to ensure it wouldn't get damaged. Unwrapping the object, the lid creaked open as she picked out the pieces to wear to see Layla and Will. Aryana grabbed a couple of bangles, her favorite earrings and suddenly paused. There, off to the side, was a small blue jewelry box that held her most prized pieces. With a hesitant hand, she took it and popped it open.

The locket Joyce had given her was the first thing she pulled out, gently popping open the piece and smiling at the picture of her parents she had put within. With a sigh, she put it on and quickly shifted her attention to the other piece of metal. A bent and old piece of metal remained behind, ragged and just cheap but she couldn't bring herself to throw it away. Even now. A stab touched her heart as she picked up the aluminum ring, smiling at the memory behind it, and laced it onto her finger, instantly smoothing it out with a warm touch. She couldn't even count how many times she had fixed it over the years, melting and re-melting it so she could ensure it's shape. But, even though it was nothing more than a remnant piece of trash, she adored it.

Aryana lightly traced her thumb along the underside of the ring on her middle finger as her attention shifted back to her jewelry box. Hesitantly, she took the small folded piece of white paper in her hand and opened it. Familiar eyes smiled back at her. Warren. She had taken this picture one of the few times the man actually smiled, with an open mouth kind of smile, before it faded. His hair was pulled back so you could see all of him, his entire face lighting up with a laugh that she had managed to catch in the one split second it was there. There were few things she owned that she prized, and this was one of them.

This picture, for some reason, never made it to the box of other Warren related paraphernalia she had collected through the years, she just couldn't do it. Not even getting together with Jason could force her to rid herself of having this photo so close. The ring either. It was, to anyone else, a meaningless piece of junk but meant so much more to her. So, they remained behind, despite every screaming voice in her head telling her it wasn't fair to keep them around. She knew they should be in the box she hides under her side of the bed, the one layered in tape as though the memories within would be able to escape otherwise, but she just couldn't do it. Hell, she knew she shouldn't have _any_ of the reminders, not being fair to her current significant other, but she was powerless to actually do it. It was almost like she needed to have them around, to ensure that it was even real.

Growling to herself, Aryana shoved the picture back into the box and slammed the lid shut. She shook her head, putting on the other pieces of jewelry when her phone rang. She lazily fell back, reaching for her jacket and rifling through her pockets.

"Yes?" she asked with a smile after seeing the name flashing back at her.

"_8 o'clock, Paper Lantern, you better be there."_

"Really Layla? You've got to be all cryptic with me? You sound like this is a secret mission or something." she laughed causing the woman on the other end to do the same.

"_Yeah well, I figured you might think it was funny. So, Chinese work for you?"_

"I'm amazed the Lantern's even still around."

"_Are you kidding? The Yi's will never sell that place. It'll be in their family for centuries."_

The two shared a laugh, wondering how true a statement it really was.

"Alright," she laughed. "So, Will going to make it?"

"_He better!"_ she yelled, obviously making sure the man they spoke of could hear her from wherever it was he was hiding. _"Yeah, he'll be there."_

"Okay." Aryana laughed. "I'll see you guys then."

She shook her head, still laughing at the young woman before going about wasting time until dinner.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Aryana waited outside the Lantern for Layla and Will to show. The sun had set a while ago, lights of the nearby shops and such coming on. But, with the sun gone, the temperature dropped. Despite not feeling it, she could easily see her breath. She was busy playing with the action when she heard someone calling her. Aryana turned and smiled wide when the Stronghold's walked up.

"Hi." she beamed, hugging Layla again.

"Sorry we're late." she sighed, moving back so she could hug Will. "But there was a little mishap at work."

"It's fine." she smiled, hugging the young man tightly. "How's it going Will?"

"Good," he chuckled, his voice even a bit deeper now. "It's good. How bout you?"

"Can't complain." she smiled. "So, food?"

"Food." Layla grinned.

The three set off inside the restaurant, Will holding the door for the two women as they moved inside before being shown a place to sit.

Will Stronghold. Now that's an ugly duckling story if she's ever heard one. Now, don't be confused, Will was cute to begin with, sweet and an all around great guy, but he had changed more than just about anyone in his time since high school. Will had finally hit a growth spurt his junior year, growing nearly four inches and becoming a decent six foot one. His jaw got broader like his dad's, his shoulders wider and with constant crime fighting, his build grew too. Will was as wide as a door almost, buffer than a linebacker and a hundred times stronger than an ox. But, even with the intimidating stature, he still smiled constantly, the action lighting up his face and making him look like a fourteen year old kid again.

"So," Will finally chimed, setting down his drink. "Who's this Jason dude nobody's ever met?"

"Will," Layla hissed, elbowing his ribs. He didn't seem to notice and only smiled at Aryana.

"You'll meet him this weekend." she smiled. "He's my fiancé, you know that."

"I still think the kid's made up."

"_Will_." Layla hissed again, losing her patience with her husband.

"Fine." he sighed before his voice turned to sarcasm. "I'm sorry. I'm sure he's a nice guy."

"Just try not to use the whole _I'm the son of the greatest heroes in the world_ crap okay? I'll have to hurt you."

He laughed happily at the comment.

"I'm still surprised you and Peace didn't tie the knot."

"Oh my god." Layla snapped, turning to her blunt husband. "You have been hanging around Zach _way_ too much."

Aryana's face fell as she looked back to her food. She didn't speak, taking a sip of her drink as she tried not to think about Warren. Will seemed to realize what he'd done and instantly felt bad.

"Oh yeah, sorry." he muttered.

She looked up and forced a smile.

"Don't worry about it." she smiled, secretly stroking the ring on her finger. "It's fine."

"So, you seen him yet?" Layla asked with a wince.

Aryana hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should really tell them.

"I think so." she finally sighed, running her fingers through her short hair.

That hadn't been that answer the others were expecting, something she could clearly see on their faces.

"Really?" Layla asked, shocked.

"Yeah, it was kind of weird." she laughed, downplaying the incident. "I stopped by my old house and apparently he drove by me on my way to see Joyce."

"Oh yeah. I heard something about that place burning down." Will said, leaning back in his chair as he stared at Aryana. He cocked a brow to her as she mocked an innocent expression, sipping on her straw. "Know how that happened?"

She simply shook her head, neither of them believing her. The two smiled, Layla having learned the situation a bit more through the years though only Warren knew the whole truth.

"So what happened?" Layla asked, continuing on their previous conversation.

"Nothing." she shrugged. "I'm not even sure it was him."

"Well probably. I mean, he doesn't live all that far away." Will replied simply. "It's what, an hour or so to LA?"

"Something like that yeah. Less, with the way he drives." Layla smiled.

"He lives in LA now?"

"Oh yeah. Big time lawyer too apparently." Will stated.

"Huh…" Aryana muttered to herself.

That was one thing she never thought he'd be. Ever. Maybe this was just his own version of being the hero, one where he could still be mean and intimidating, it just helped the situation. It was his own way of helping the little man against the bad guys. If not, she might have to be concerned because the body-snatchers were in town and they were already abducting people. She had slipped into her own world as she thought about it, chewing lightly on her straw as she started into space. Layla noticed the action and it worried her slightly.

"But I bet Jason's great." she chimed.

Aryana seemed to snap too.

"Yeah, he is." she answered with a forced smile. "He's wonderful."

And they left it at that, dropping the subject of Aryana's past and future male companions.

Later, when dinner was done and Aryana had returned back to her hotel room, she found herself unable to sleep. The best she could do was lay on her bed, staring at her hands, eying the rings on either of them. On one, she had a beautiful engagement ring, a simple diamond resting in the center of a platinum band. On the other, resting on her right middle finger, was the miniscule aluminum ring she had forged from a peace offering. She laughed to herself. Peace offering…

Shaking the stupid joke from her mind, she went back to the rings on her fingers. Her mind swam with horrible questions like which one meant more? Which one was worth more? And it meant nothing, the monetary value, she meant the emotional value behind the gifts. Which one had more behind it, more meaning to it. Her head slowly began to throb the longer she stared at the pieces. Eventually her hands just fell to her sides.

Aryana stared at her ceiling until she fell asleep, no closer to a conclusion than before. That night, her mind was filled with thoughts of Warren and none of them were flattering. For some reason, it wouldn't let her remember the good times, only the bad.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Her dreams were haunted, that was all she could think as she drifted off.

_She had been walking downtown, finding something for Tony's birthday while Warren was at work. She walked leisurely through the streets, trying to figure out what to get the kid for his twelfth/ graduation gift. She still couldn't believe that he was graduating so soon, not two years after she did. The kid wasn't even twelve yet and already graduating high school. It was amazing what could happen when you actually had a supporting family unit. _

_She laughed to herself as she looked into the window of a certain store that had all kinds of expensive and fun electronics that he would have so much fun taking apart and 'fixing'. He always did that, dismembering some electronic device and altering it enough to make it suit his needs. It made spending actual money, decent money, a bit harder to do knowing what awaited the gift. But, there with the few things she saw in the window she liked, there was something she didn't._

_The Paper Lantern was at the corner behind her. She had gone to say hello to Warren, ask his ideas before walking off. He wasn't supposed to be getting off until nine, but he definitely wasn't working. She could see his reflection in the window and forced herself to turn, just to make sure it was really who she was seeing. Sure enough, it was._

_Warren stood in front of the restaurant, talking to some blond she had never seen before, leaning in a bit too far for her liking. It looked like they were having some conversation they didn't want anyone else to hear and before she could blink, he caught the woman's lips with his own. Her jaw fell slack, eyes wide at what she was seeing. There was no disputing it. Warren Peace, her boyfriend and the one she had been dating since her first year of Sky High almost four years ago, had his arms around another woman, his lips stuck to hers._

_Rage and anger surged through her veins at the sight. The air around her had turned almost volatile, as though anyone walking too close would ignite from sheer proximity. Her shocked expression shifted to anger, her eyes burning as tears swelled within. She was going to kill him, violently if she could help it. She would make him think that Hell would be a nice vacation spot when she was done with him._

_That night, she waited for him to get home. Thankfully, Joyce was at work for the time being and Warren didn't have class in the morning. He might not make it if he did. Aryana sat on the chair in the living, her arms crossed in front of her as she waited. Her eyes stayed on the clock. It took him less than fifteen minutes to get home from the Lantern._

_9:08_

_His bike screeched to a halt outside, she could hear it. A second later, he burst through the front door, looking around, his face angry, but she was angrier. When his black eyes trained on her, he glared hate filled eyes and walked towards his room. She growled under her breath and shot up, running after the man. She threw his bedroom door open, his arms already lit. Hers joined soon after._

"_What the fuck Peace?" she demanded angrily. "After everything I've done for you, given you and you just…"_

"_Don't turn this around on me!" he shot back. "I've gone out of my way to help you and you pull this shit?"_

"_I'm not the one running around talking to some blond whore!"_

"_Andrea?" he asked slightly confused._

"_That's the bitch's name?" she growled, her eyes instantly darkening as the fire around her body grew. "How dare you say her name in front of me! After what you've done?"_

"_What I've done? What I've done?" he repeated in disbelief. "You don't deserve what I've done for you!"_

"_You know something," she laughed in furious disbelief. "You got me there. You're nothing more than a selfish, self centered, arrogant piece of worthless…"_

"_Where the hell do you get off calling me selfish? You're the one walking around like people owe you shit and all you do is spit in their face."_

"_You deserve worse than spit. I can't believe I've wasted four years on you!"_

"_You wasted?" he laughed cruelly. "I could've done a hell of a lot better than something like you."_

_Before she could stop herself, not sure she wanted to, Aryana came forward and hit the man across the face. Closed fist. Warren's head snapped to the side at the force, smelling some of his singed hair, knowing her hand had been lit, but did nothing to stop it._

"_I wish I'd never met you Peace." she hissed, storming out of his room and into her own._

_He stood there for a moment, too angry to do much of anything other than leave. Grabbing his helmet, he stormed out of the house and got back on his bike, determined not to come back until he was calm enough not to burn the air around him._

_Aryana heard him speed off, his tires screeching their protest at the gas he had given the machine. The moment the sound was gone, Aryana collapsed onto her knees, in the middle of shoving her things into her bags. She buried her face in her hands as she sobbed, shaking uncontrollably at what had just happened. His words burned in her brain, their venom poisoning her to her very core. She never remembered crying so hard in her life, sure that if she had it was only once when she lost everything she had cared about. Now was no different. Yet again, her world had shattered and she was left to try and sift through the pieces._

Aryana woke with a gasp, shooting up in bed and panting, her cheeks stained with the tears she had spilled in her sleep. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest, she could hear it in her ears. Trying her best to calm down, she propped her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands, if anything to help steady her throbbing head. She shook her head, the images and words replaying over and over in her mind whether she wanted them to or not.

That was the last time she had seen or spoken to Warren. She had packed her things that night, left before he had ever gotten home and started a life of her own. Eight years, seven months and two and a half weeks had passed since then and she was in no rush to rekindle any further contact.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Warren lay in bed, one arm propping up his head, the other laying across his stomach as he stared at the ceiling. His mind was focused on Aryana. He assumed she was back for the reunion, the obvious reason given she had moved to the other side of the country. And it was all to get away from him. He remembered every bit of it, as clearly as it had just happened, and it still haunted him to this day.

Aryana had stopped by the Lantern to ask for suggestions about Tony's gift. That kid still amazed him. They spoke for a few minutes, Mrs. Yin giving them both the look he knew all too well. She had laughed under her breath before stealing a light kiss and leaving. He only smiled to himself and went about his work when Andrea walked in. She seemed slightly nervous as she walked to his side.

"Hey Warren," she whispered, Mrs. Yin moving to the back away from the young man. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh," he hesitated, looking around. "Yeah, I guess. What's up?"

She waved for him to follow her outside but he was still worried about the whole 'firing' thing. Still making sure she was gone, he followed Andrea outside to the front of the restaurant, wiping his hands lightly.

"Yeah, so what's up?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

Andrea was a sweet girl, but she made him uncomfortable. There was just something about her. She was Andy's little sister, so he was nice to her since he worked with the guy for about three and a half years, but he just didn't like the way she looked at him.

"Look, I was kind of hoping that, maybe when you get off work…"

Warren sighed to himself.

"Andrea," he said simply, the young woman looking up at him hopefully. "I've got a girlfriend. You know that. It hasn't changed. Sorry."

He shrugged indifferently, turning to move back in.

"What if you didn't?"

Warren turned to eye her for a moment.

"If I didn't, I don't know. But I do." he replied, a bit more annoyed than before. "Sorry."

She nodded solemnly and turned to leave, walking off with her head down. He shook his head. She was a pretty girl, but he wasn't looking and didn't plan to be. Plans, however, change. When Warren had turned to go back inside, his eyes caught sight of Aryana across the street, looking through the window of some electronics store. He smiled to himself when something else caught his eye. A guy, someone he didn't know, walked up to Aryana. The two looked overly friendly, something that began to piss the young man off and got worse when she looped her arms lovingly over the other man's shoulders.

Unfathomable jealousy and fury began to grow within him, a sensation that more than doubled, if possible, when she kissed him on the lips. Warren heard the rag in his hands burning, smelled the fabric char and ignite completely when she looped her arm with his and sauntered off to do god knew what while he was at work. When he got home, he was going to have a serious, serious talk with her.

The end of his shift couldn't come fast enough, the man unable to control his fire since seeing Aryana with someone else. He didn't remember how he had gotten home, or really much else other than slamming on his brakes, his bike shrieking to a halt in his drive way. He didn't even have the wherewithal to put up the kickstand, the bike falling into the side of the hedge instead as he rushed the door and threw it open. He spotted her immediately on the couch. Anger lapped within him but he wasn't going to fight in the living room. Instead, he walked to his own bedroom. Unfortunately, she followed him. He couldn't contain his anger, his arms lighting up the instant she walked through his doorway.

"What the fuck Peace?" she demanded angrily. "After everything I've done for you, given you and you just…"

"Don't turn this around on me!" he shot back. "I've gone out of my way to help you and you pull this shit?"

"I'm not the one running around talking to some blond whore!"

"Andrea?" he asked slightly confused.

"That's the bitch's name?" she growled, her eyes instantly darkening as the fire around her body grew. "How dare you say her name in front of me! After what you've done?"

"What I've done? What I've done?" he repeated in disbelief. "You don't deserve what I've done for you!"

"You know something," she laughed in furious disbelief. "You got me there. You're nothing more than a selfish, self centered, arrogant piece of worthless…"

"Where the hell do you get off calling me selfish? You're the one walking around like people owe you shit and all you do when is spit in their face."

"You deserve worse than spit. I can't believe I've wasted four years on you!"

"You wasted?" he laughed cruelly. "I could've done a hell of a lot better than something like you."

He knew his words dripped with venom and hatred, something that she picked up on too, judging by her expression. Suddenly, before he even realized it, her fist shot out and landed fiercely against his jaw. Closed fist. Warren's head snapped to the side at the force, smelling some of his singed hair, knowing her hand had been lit, but did nothing to stop it.

"I wish I'd never met you Peace." she hissed, storming out of his room and into her own.

He stood there for a moment, too angry to do much of anything other than leave. Grabbing his helmet, he stormed out of the house and got back on his bike, determined not to come back until he was calm enough not to burn the air around him. Digging his bike out of the bush, Warren sped off to who the hell knew where. He just didn't want to be there until he could think. There was too much going on that he didn't understand.

By the time he did return, she was gone. Everything that had been hers was gone, nothing remaining but a note, letter really, that she had written his mother saying why she had left. He was thankful she didn't go into extreme detail but when he saw his room, he realized it was obvious. The walls were scorched black as though they had started a fire in the middle of it, his bed frame, dresser and desk charred and smoldering. The air around them had been so heated that without contacting actual fire, the room had nearly gone up in flames.

He never spoke to her after that, he and his mother on shaky terms given his lack of explanation about the situation. Eventually though, everything seemed to slip back into a normal rhythm, no matter how much he didn't want it to. He had even dated someone. He had been betrayed worse than he thought possible, letting himself trust someone and that was what happened, they threw it in his face. Andrea, still persisting on asking him out, was the one he eventually went on a date with. Why the hell not, he didn't give a shit anymore.

He had been fooling around with her, having his fun since nothing else really seemed to matter. But even that apparently wasn't meant to last. The two had only gone about two months before Warren just had enough of her. She had gotten clingy, trying to be a real girlfriend and he wanted nothing to do with it. He may not have admitted it to anyone, but he had actually cared about Aryana, loved her even, so he wasn't much in the mood to try and deal with someone attempting to be her replacement after what had happened. And then something interesting happened.

Andrea blew up. She hurled her insults, screaming at the man, accusing him of all kinds of things ranging from leading her on, to just being an asshole. None of which bothered him. It was hard to give a shit about what someone thought of you when you didn't give a shit about them. But then she said it, the one thing he had never said to her, discussed with her ever since meeting her.

"It's no wonder your girlfriend cheated on you, you dick!"

Warren have never told anyone, not even his mother, about the details of their fight. No one but him knew that he had caught her kissing someone else, Andrea already having left his sights before hand. Later he found out how she knew.

In the kitchen one day, Warren had caught Andy using his powers. He had never assumed the kid had any given he had never seen him at school, but there he was making the glasses move without touching them. When he confronted him, Andy had freaked out until Warren showed him what he could do. Andy seemed overjoyed, telling the pyrokinetic that he thought he and his sister were alone. Warren asked what he meant, Andy going on to say that Andrea had a power. She could manipulate people's minds and get them to see whatever she wanted them to. Jesus, she was a new Martha.

Everything began to make sense. Now he understood why Aryana seemed so angry with him, why Andrea had known what he had seen the day the two broke up. The bitch had put it there and god only knows what Aryana saw. The little wench had made them break up because she was jealous and wanted to date him. That's why she always asked, 'what if you didn't have a girlfriend'.

Warren had never felt so guilty before, as horrible as he felt right then. He had said things he didn't mean, her too, and destroyed anything they had managed to build through their time together. He wanted to call and apologize, to tell her he didn't mean it and explain the real situation with Andrea but the longer he put it off, the harder it got. Soon weeks became months, months became years and the years just kept passing. After a while, there just wasn't a point to call her anymore, no reason to say anything.

He laid in his bed, still staring at the ceiling as those first few months after she left played and replayed in his mind. That was the reason for the avoidance. That was why it was just better never to speak with her and why he never told anyone the particulars to their split. It was just better for everyone involved that she never know the truth. It was just better that she thought he was nothing more than a cheating asshole.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Aryana had called Tony to see what he was up to. After all, she couldn't very well come back home and not see him. He'd kill her. She loved the kid, well, young man. Tony was almost twenty years old now. God she felt old.

As she changed into a pair of pants, her boots and a nearly backless shirt, he called her back. Surprisingly enough, he was a teacher at Sky High. Medulla had apparently been impressed enough with the young man that he had suggested to whoever it was that gave jobs, that he should have a place there. Tony was overjoyed with the thought of being a teacher. Its not like he didn't already graduate college anyway. That kid was truly amazing. He could read the books and understand any subject completely. Astounding.

So, grabbing her jacket, she made sure she had her things and stepped out onto the balcony, flying up into the sky. It wasn't that she knew the location of the school but seriously, how hard was it to find something that big hovering over the city? She was amazed more people didn't see it but assumed there had to be some kind of cloaking device otherwise there would be UFO sightings everywhere. That and well, Tony had slipped her a little help, giving her the round about location since he wasn't even really sure.

In a few minutes, she saw the school beneath her and landed easily on the large platform the buses waited until the end of the day. She swelled with nostalgia. A smile touched her face as she walked along, staring at everything that seemed new which honestly, was just about everything. The school, just in her couple of years, had buildings, walls, rooms, all kinds of things rebuilt. What did you expect when you went to a school of super beings? Someone was going to blow something up, knock something down, destroy something. So to be honest, it looked the same for the most part but there were very new buildings and walls all over. She secretly wondered how much they spent on building materials in a year when the bell rang.

Students began to file out, moving around since it was nearing lunch. She took a seat on the wall by the front steps and just watched everyone walking around, waiting for Tony to join her. After a few minutes when lunch began, she saw him exiting the building, talking to some students. Girls of course. Tony had gotten to be a relatively attractive young man and that coupled with him only being about a year and a half, two years older than his students meant, well, they thought they had a chance. She smiled to herself and walked towards the young man as he explained something to the girls that surrounded him.

"Oh Tony!" she called in a slightly mocking tone. He glanced up and smiled at her. "Are you behaving young man?"

He glared lightly as she walked forward, hugging him tightly. He laughed, returning the affection.

"Oh my god look at you!" she beamed, pulling back and kissing his cheek. "You're so cute now!"

The young girls around the two were just eying the young woman jealously and she could see it. She cocked a brow to Tony, a smile touching her lips.

"Guys, this is my sister Aryana. Aryana, these are some of my students." he explained.

The girls seemed to calm slightly but still didn't like the newcomer.

"Sorry girls but I need to borrow Mr. Williams." she said with a smile, looping her arm around his shoulders and pulling him away.

He chuckled as she dragged him off, scowling when she tried to ruffle his hair.

"Oh come on. I wear gel now Aryana." he whined.

She only laughed, unable to believe he had changed so much in the year she hadn't seen him. He was tall now, too tall for her to comfortably loop her arm over his shoulder. His once feather blond hair was now a pale brown and cut short, a standard hair cut for men anymore and spiked slightly on top. His face had lost most of its childishness but not all given he wasn't completely grown up yet and he was starting to fill out and look all the more like a man. He was getting so cute!

"Oh quite whining." she giggled, the two moving to sit under a nearby tree. "So how's working for the school? Have any mishaps?"

He sighed, shaking his head lightly.

"I had a kid blow up half the lab about two weeks ago. School's barely started and we've already had to rebuild."

She laughed.

"I'm kind of surprised you've stopped by, coming all the way out here for something like a reunion." he finally said, continuing on their nonchalant conversation despite her knowing where he was going with it. "I mean, you always said there's no way in hell you'd ever come back here again."

She only stared at him out of the corner of her eye, warning him silently not to go where she knew this was going. He wasn't as scared of her as other people tended to be and had no problem with pissing her off.

"So, have you talked to him yet?"

She growled under her breath.

"Why is everyone so interested in whether or not I've seen Warren?" she snapped.

A smile tugged at Tony's lips.

"That's a no."

She cursed under her breath, leaning against the back of the tree and staring at the passing clouds. Tony only did the same, the two sitting on the soft grass, neither really wanting to go down the Warren road, knowing it would only lead to her getting angrier than before.

"So I heard our old place burned down yesterday." Tony chimed. "Couldn't help it could you?"

She shrugged.

"Cops told me someone used a match or something." she said indifferently.

He cocked a brow to her.

"I'm surprised you didn't do it sooner."

"Yeah well," she said quietly, looking at her hands. "It's not like I've ever come running back to Maxville."

He only chuckled under his breath when their attention was drawn to something over by the cafeteria. Their attention peeked, the two standing and slowly making their way over to the giddy kids. Aryana laughed when she saw Will through the people, answering questions and dealing with the fans of him and his parents.

"Hey Stronghold!" she called with a laugh.

The crowd shifted slightly, giving the hero the room to see the young woman and Tony approach. He wore a wide smile until something seemed to cross the expression. Worry. Aryana eyed him for a moment as she approached him, her own smile wavering slightly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked quickly.

"Me? What about you?" she asked in the same tone, becoming slightly worried that he wasn't as happy to see her as she was him.

"I came to see Ethan."

"Well I came to see Tony." she defended, pointing to the man to her side.

"Hey Will." Tony smiled, waving to the man.

"Hey Tony," he muttered, still seeming 'off'.

Adding to her suspicion, he looked around, as though he were waiting for something to pop up out of nowhere. She was getting worried.

"Something wrong Will?" she asked under her breath. "You're kind of…"

"Stronghold, I found him!"

Her eyes went wide as she looked up at the man in front of her. Will forced a crooked smile but it didn't matter. The air and color fled her face. Now she understood. Now it made sense. Slowly, Aryana turned to the voice behind her and felt as though a weak breeze could have knocked her over. The only thing that helped, was she wasn't the only one that was bowled over by the situation.

"Warren?"

He looked as horrified as her.

"Aryana."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Warren awoke in the morning, his head hurting from the sheer amount of thinking he had been doing the night before. Groggy, he smelled coffee and breakfast in the kitchen. With a weak smile, he made his way in to find Joyce cooking far too much food for two people.

"Morning honey." she laughed, walking forward and kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Hungry?"

"Not that hungry." he teased, eying the food she was making.

"I suppose I did get a little carried away." she sighed, putting some bacon on a plate. "I'm just glad you decided to come back and stay the weekend. You work so much, it seems like you never just take a break."

"I don't." he replied simply, pouring coffee into a mug and sitting. "I work very hard not to have a vacation."

She sighed heavily, bringing food to the table and eying her son. He just glanced lazily up at her over the mouth of his mug as he took another sip.

"You're going to give yourself a stroke before you're thirty if you don't take a break every once and a while Warren." she scolded.

He only chuckled to himself as he grabbed a piece of bacon to eat.

"So, what are your plans for the day?"

He only shrugged, rubbing his head lightly as he tried to wake up more.

"I don't know." he groaned, his shoulder popping for some reason. "I might just wander around for a while."

"Well why don't you go see some of your old friends?"

He didn't respond and just thought about it as the two ate their breakfast. Later on, he actually took his mother's advice and went about meeting Stronghold. He still didn't understand how the two of them were even civil with each other let alone friends but there you are. They've known each other for almost fourteen years, a long time, and still talked periodically, musing over their rivalry.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Warren greeted, shaking Will's hand.

"Not bad." he laughed, squeezing Warren's hand a bit tighter than he would a normal person. Warren responding by lighting his. The two laughed. "So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

He shrugged.

"Still trying to figure that out." he joked, a wry smile touching his lips. "So, how's life treating you?"

Will only chuckled as the two went about walking into the sport's bar they had agreed to meet in. They talked for a while, getting something to eat and bragging about their own lives. Warren just felt exhausted hearing about Will trying to juggle his life, a marriage and being a superhero too. It sounded too tiring for him. Then again, he worked nearly eighty hours a week when they had a big case coming through so maybe it was him with the tiring job.

"So," Will chimed in a voice Warren didn't like. He eyed the man over his drink. "You hear Aryana's in town?"

Warren cocked a brow before setting his drink back down. He didn't know Aryana had told the man about their previous run in and decided to just lie through his teeth.

"No," he finally answered. "Here for the reunion I guess?"

"Yeah, most likely. She hasn't come by to see you?"

"Why would she? I don't live here." he replied, trying to keep the edge from his voice as his eyes moved around the room, avoiding the man to his side.

Will only smiled to himself as he finished off his water.

"Come on man, let's take a trip down memory lane." he said, smacking the back of Warren's shoulder as he stood.

Warren cocked a brow to the young hero, currently digging through his wallet and pulling out a few dollars. Will looked up, smiling to the young man.

"Come on."

"Where do you plan on dragging me?" he asked, standing and paying for his own stuff.

"We're going to school."

Warren just eyed the man and followed him outside. The two walked to the side of the building, away from the eyes of passing 'normals'.

"You ready for this?" Will asked.

"Why the hell do you want to go back to Sky High?"

"Oh come on. It'll be fun." he joked, grabbing the man before he could protest and soaring into the air.

Warren wasn't worried about being dropped, not really, but he would have been grateful for some kind of warning. He didn't know why the hell it would be _fun_ to go back to high school, but a few things crossed his mind. Part of him wondered if Will just didn't like being the big man on campus, everyone knowing his name.

When they landed a few minutes later, Warren couldn't fight his slight irritation and thumped a fireball at the back of the man's head as he fixed his jacket. Will didn't seem to care and laughed instead.

"Oh you're fine. Don't cry about it."

Warren looked slightly impressed that Will seemed to had grown out of his shy phase. A smile and light chuckle left his lips as the two walked into the building. They marveled at how everything looked so different and the same simultaneously. When a bell rang and students began to fill the halls, it didn't take long for them to all but swarm Stronghold. Warren only shook his head as they asked for autographs and so forth.

"Hey man, you think you can find Ethan?" Will asked over the crowd.

Warren raised his hand to the man, signaling his compliance but honestly just wanted to get away from the swooning fangirls. So, with his hands in his pockets, he made his way towards the Hero Support wing.

When he arrived at the classroom, he saw someone that barely resembled the kid he went to high school with reading papers he had on his desk. Ethan heard someone at his door and looked up with a smile.

"Hey Warren." he smiled, standing to shake the man's hand. "How's it going?"

"Good man, you?"

"Busy." he laughed.

Ethan had changed a lot since his days as the little nerd that melted. He was tall now, the same height as Warren but still kind of narrow. He had changed his glasses, thank God, to thinner frames that didn't hide his entire face. He lost the braces, the fluorescent colored clothing and looked more fitting a hero than before.

"How'd you get up here? It's not like you can walk up to the school." he chuckled.

"Stronghold. He's busy with some fans. I decided to come find you."

"Well," he said, glancing down to his watch. "I've got lunch this period. Let's go."

Warren nodded, the two leaving the class and making their way through the halls, trying to find out where Will had gone. The two continued on before spotting a large group hovering around a man in a red, white and blue shirt through the widows of the building. Pointing it out, Ethan led the man through the halls and out the front door.

He shook his head as he walked up, seeing Will talking to one particular fan girl while the others just watched. Some looked a little annoyed that he was paying so much attention to the one that seemed to dominate his attention. Ethan laughed, explaining that this happened every time Will came to the school and he stopped by more than you'd think for someone that didn't work there. Warren shook his head again with a grin playing at his lips.

"Stronghold!" he called loudly. "I found him!"

Will looked up, his face seemingly losing color. It alerted Warren to something obviously not being right. His brow tensed as the young woman Will had been talking to turned around. Familiar silver eyes looked back at him and Warren suddenly understood the man's apprehensions. He felt like someone had kicked him in the gut.

"Warren?" she muttered, her voice making his back tense.

"Aryana."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

She stood there, her mouth hanging slightly slack as she stared at the man she had tried so hard to forget. Damn the Fates were mean… And he looked so good too!

He towered over her a bit more than he had in high school, easily six foot one, maybe two. He was broader than before too, something that she could see even though he was still wearing the leather jacket he had owned back then. His hair was short, something she thought she'd never see, cut closer to his head and spiked up with some kind of product. He even had facial hair. He had a scruffy but well trimmed goatee of sorts and it just made him look all the better. Jesus, if she thought he had been cute before, she had never been so wrong. Just standing there staring at him now made her weak in the knees.

Warren knew he looked as dumbstruck to see Aryana as she looked to see him. He couldn't believe it. He had only glimpses of her before and now, faced with her only a couple of feet in front of him, he realized how little he had seen. Her eyes seemed brighter, more silver than the gray they had been before. She had lost some of the innocent look she once had as a teenager but it was replaced with a beautiful young woman. Her hair was shorter, still the same ebony black but cut nearer to her chin in layers that framed her face perfectly with some of it clipped back so her ears were on display. She looked so different but the same from her face to her new sense of fashion.

The two stood there, for far too long in their friend's opinions, staring blankly at one another. The ones watching we slightly worried the two might start attacking each other given how vehement they were about the others name not being mentioned. Finally, Aryana seemed to be the one that was knocked out of it first, though she'd never say it was Tony's pinch in her arm that had done it.

"So," she said, clearing her throat. "What brings you to Sky High again Warren?"

There was an edge to her voice but not even Warren could expect otherwise.

"Stronghold. You?" he answered in the same tone.

She pointed to the young man over her shoulder.

"I came to see Tony."

Warren looked surprised by her answer, not because of _who_ she said, but because of _who_ she pointed to. This kid definitely didn't resemble the little boy he had seen all those years ago.

"How's it going kid?" he asked politely.

"Good. You?" Tony asked, forcing the same small talk.

Warren only shrugged before his eyes moved back to Aryana. Once again there was an awkward silence, even the students sensing something wasn't right.

"Going to the reunion?" Aryana asked.

He cocked a brow to her.

"I doubt it."

"Yeah. Why tell people you're stalking around. It much less creepy when they know."

Tony winced slightly at the tone she used, Will and Ethan both knowing the two weren't far from another fight. But Aryana couldn't resist. Being this close to him again, after everything, no matter how nice it was to see him again, it still brought everything else back up with it. It was the same with him.

"You have something to say Gehenna?"

"Why? Not like it'd make it through that thick ass skull of yours."

"You know something," he sighed in disbelief when the bell rang, cutting him off abruptly.

Aryana almost dared him to speak, to say whatever it was he was thinking and he could tell. He'd spent enough time around her to know her looks.

"Forget it."

"I've been trying." she snapped under her breath before turning to her actual friends. "It's nice seeing you guys again." she moved to Tony. "Stop by the hotel. We need to hang out before I leave again."

"Sure." he replied, hugging her tightly as she kissed his cheek.

She glanced back, smiling to Will and Ethan before turning a blank stare to Warren. Instead of speaking, she went about removing her jacket, Warren noticing the trinkets she probably didn't want him to see. There, resting on her right middle finger, the hand he could actually see, was a familiar ring, his mother's locket around her neck. She didn't notice his looks as she walked off towards the edge of the school, pulling her jacket off completely. Without looking back, she ran for the edge and leapt into the air. Her wings sprouted out of nowhere before she disappeared over the edge of the school.

"Still dramatic isn't she?" Warren mumbled.

"Can be, yeah." Tony smiled. "Look, good seeing you guys again but I need to get to class."

"Later man." Will said, shaking the kid's hand before he disappeared.

"I should be heading back too. I still have papers to grade." Ethan sighed. "I'll talk to you guys later."

"See ya Ethan."

"Later Popsicle."

The two men stood there as the groups around them dissipated, Warren still staring at the place Aryana had vanished over the edge of the school.

"That was…" Will began.

"Surprisingly civil." Warren finished, turning to Will with a smile. "Come on Sidekick, let's get out of here before we get in trouble."

Will nodded, forcing his own smile, as he took Warren and the two flew back to the ground below. They said their farewells to one another, saying they would meet up again some time soon though Will had a feeling that if Warren didn't go to the reunion, it'd be months before they'd see him again. But, they said it regardless and went their separate ways.

As Warren walked back t o his bike, he had to admit he wore a smile. She was still wearing the little piece of crap chunk of foil he had given her almost fourteen years ago. It seemed she didn't hate him as much as she thought or hoped she did. He wasn't as shocked to see the necklace, being a gift from his mother and not him, but the fact that she still had the ring said something. It made him feel less pathetic for still having her pictures.

Aryana on the other hand, flew back to her hotel room, unable to believe she had actually run into Warren. They had stood face to face after more than eight years, and spoke, without lighting the other on fire. She didn't even want to inflict bodily harm! That was probably the one thing that seemed the strangest to her, that she didn't out right kill him. Then again, she wasn't sure she was still _that_ mad at him. Something else soon crossed her mind.

What the hell was he still doing in Maxville? He had seen her, knew she was there, so why the hell would he have stayed? It made no sense. If he didn't want to see her or talk to her… then did he? If he was still in town, knowing she would visit the same friends they shared and the chances of running into him were as high as they were, then why would he stick around unless he wanted to see her?

The thought made her pause as she landed on her balcony. That wasn't it. It couldn't have been. If he wanted to get a hold of her, he knew how. He could either get her number from his mom or call her himself. She's had the same number since she had gotten her phone, it hadn't changed. It's not liked there weren't ways but he didn't. He never tried once to get in contact with her since they broke up years ago. So, there had to be another reason. There had to be.

Resigning to the fact that he was in town for a reason other than her, Aryana made her way into her room. He phone started ringing and for a brief moment, her heart stopped. She froze, digging frantically into her pocket, her heart suddenly going into overdrive at the thought of who might be on the other end. She had turned into a little teenage girl again in less time than most people could blink. She had become hopeful that maybe, maybe he had swallowed his pride and called her. A hope that vanished the second she saw the name looking back at her. Hope was soon filled with guilt.

"Hey baby." she smiled, a weak attempt to sound happier than she felt.

"_Hey."_ he swooned on the other end in the cheesy suave voice that made her laugh. _"Miss me yet?"_

"Of course."

"_Do you looove me?_" he teased.

Aryana smiled and looked down, the jewelry box having fallen on the ground in her attempts to grab her phone. She bent down and grabbed it, the picture inside falling out and open onto the ground. She hesitated to even touch it but soon grabbed it too, staring at the face smiling back at her.

"More than you know." she replied softly, still staring at the man in the picture.


	13. Chapter 13

**This one's kind of short but the next one is pretty long. :)**

**Chapter 13**

The week seemed to be ticking by slower than she had thought it would. Then again, everyone she was friends with were in their hometown, the place they still lived and had their jobs. Her job was on the other side of the country so she had nothing to do during the day. She had gone to see Layla at one point, the young woman working in a nursery. Go figure she would be their favorite employee. Her boss even stated that the plants seemed to love whenever Layla worked. It made the two of them laugh happily.

When she had gone to eat lunch with her Hippie friend, Aryana hadn't realized that Will had most likely told her everything that had happened at the school. She should have, but she hadn't. Layla wouldn't stop asking questions about the exchange, about how Aryana felt after talking to him after all these years. She wouldn't let it go no matter how many times Aryana just gave her a look instead of an answer.

"Well, it's just that you never told me what happened when you guys broke up." Layla defended as she took a sip of her juice. "I mean, none of us know. Warren never even said anything about it."

"Well _he_ wouldn't would he." she muttered angrily.

"You see, it's stuff like that. What happened that made you move all the way to the other side of the country?"

Aryana sighed, running her fingers through her hair as she looked around, trying to decide if she really wanted to say it out loud. She'd never told anyone what happened. She would've told Tony if he wasn't only twelve and there was no way she was going to tell Joyce. Not with it being her son. Hesitantly, she looked to her friend and couldn't shut up before she said the one thing she had been keeping in for years.

"He cheated on me." she all but blurted.

Layla's face fell, her mouth slack.

"What?" she asked shocked. "Are you sure?"

She cocked a disbelieving brow to the young woman.

"I saw him kissing another woman. Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Oh my god." she muttered, her hand coming to her mouth as the words sunk in. "Did, did you confront him?"

"Oh yeah, pretty sure we nearly burned down Joyce's house too." she sighed. "That was the day I left."

"Well who was it? Did you know her?"

"No. I mean, he said her name was Andrea but… I never wanted to find out more."

"Wait… Andrea?"

Aryana turned to Layla and nodded slowly, hearing a tone of recognition in her voice.

"Why?"

Layla looked wide eyed at the young woman, faking innocence.

"No reason."

Aryana narrowed her eyes.

"Layla, what aren't you saying?"

"I'm sure its nothing."

She was scowling now.

"Spit it out Stronghold." Aryana snapped, meaner than she meant to but she was losing her patience. What little she had when it came to her and Warren at least.

Layla jumped when Aryana snapped at her. She understood the rreaction but it wasn't any less jarring.

"Okay, okay." she said quickly, trying to pacify her friend. "It was just… well a few years ago, Will and I fought this villain…"

She paused and it was a little more than annoying. Aryana only cocked her brow again, noticing that Layla was going through her phone.

"They called her Mirage because she could make people see things." she said, still going through her phone.

"What does this have to do with anything?"

Layla bit her lip lightly as she brought up the newspaper's mug shot of the villain. She paused before looking up at Aryana and setting her phone on the table, turning it to face her friend.

"She dated Warren about six or seven months after you left for a little while. She went nuts when he dumped her." she said, her voice slightly worried and given what Aryana saw, there was good reason to be. "That's her isn't it?"

Aryana scowled at the picture of the blond woman on the phone. It had her prisoner ID number on it, a standard mug shot, but there was no disputing the fact that this was Andrea, a fact that was brought even further into the light when the name of the woman was displayed underneath it. She looked horrible. She had obviously been in a fight, her hair mussed and so forth, the black makeup around her eyes left behind when they had taken off her mask. She looked horrible but that made Aryana feel a bit better until she remembered what else Layla had said. Her eyes moved to her friend.

"Warren _dated_ her?" she asked with a growl.

Layla nodded, slowly taking her phone back and putting it in her purse again.

"For a month or more I think. It didn't last very long." she said sadly. "But is that her?"

Aryana nodded, still staring blankly at the table as though the picture was still there. She was beginning to feel her fingers tingle in the way that meant fire was coming.

"That'd be the one."

"After she was arrested, Will was able to have a look at her file. He said she and her brother both had powers but they were stuck in public school. Her brother used to work with Warren at the Paper Lantern."

"So?"

"So… maybe you didn't see what you think you saw." she said sheepishly. "Maybe she did it?"

Aryana scoffed.

"Then he should have said something instead of biting my head off." she replied matter-of-factly, trying to make it seem like she felt more indifferent than she did. It didn't last long when the sound of his voice yelling at her echoed in her mind. Her face sank. "He should've said something other than what he said."

Layla's brow furrowed briefly.

"What'd he say?"

She knew her voice was weaker than normal but she also knew she shouldn't have asked the question. So, when Aryana didn't offer an answer, she wasn't surprised.

"I mean, you don't think he'd actually do something like that do you?"

She looked up at the concerned face of her long time friend.

"If I hadn't seen it, probably not. It's kind of hard to ignore your eyes, you know?"

Layla nodded reluctantly but something about their conversation just didn't sit well with her. Something about the coincidences just seemed a little too, well, coincidental. She just had trouble believing that the situation wasn't somehow connected. But for the moment, she left it alone, seeing easily that Aryana didn't want to continue on this line of conversation.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Warren had been thinking about the young woman he had spoken to at the school, the one that seemed to be so close to his thoughts whether he wanted her to be or not. Aryana was just… right there. And now, with what he had seen, he wondered if he dominated her thought's just as much. Why else would she keep something like the aluminum ring after all these years if he wasn't. A smile touched his lips at the thought, but what now?

So what she kept the ring, what was he supposed to do now? If she had wanted to get a hold of him in the time she had been gone, it's not like it would have been impossible. She knew his phone number, where his mother lived, everything about him so there was no way she couldn't actually find him. But she hadn't. She hadn't tried, once, to get in contact with him. Then again, could he blame her? He had never even bothered getting passed the name calling and yelling to figure out what the hell was going on, let alone give thought to anyone other than himself.

Growling to himself, Warren stood and decided to go for a walk. He needed to clear his head, to go somewhere that wasn't there for the time being. Making sure to grab his coat on the way out, he left, not sure of where he would go, just going.

0o0

Aryana had gotten out of the shower and was in the process of drying her hair when there was a knock on her door. She stared curiously at it, tossing her towel onto a nearby chair before answering it. When she swung the door open, she couldn't believe her eyes. To be honest, she was certain she lost a few shades of color.

"Hey Firefly." he said with a slight smile.

"Warren, what are you… how'd… hi."

The two stood there for a moment, neither really sure what to say though it was obvious Aryana was a bit more taken aback by the sudden appearance of the man.

"You going to invite me in or do I have to hang out in the hallway?" he finally asked.

Aryana couldn't make her mind shut up and just stepped to the side, giving him a silent signal to enter. He did, walking passed her and looking around. She knew her face still bore confusion, the only natural emotion, as the door slammed shut. Warren heard the action and turned on his heel, his hands still in his pockets. He chuckled internally at the expression touching her features.

"Why are you here Warren?" she finally asked, the words escaping for once.

He cocked a brow to her, trying to keep it light and to keep them from fighting. A light grin tugged at the corner of his lips as he turned back to the room. She glared at him as he walked around lazily for a moment, noticing something resting in the chair near the balcony. He moved towards it and grabbed it, falling into the chair. Aryana felt her breath hitch as he took the jewelry box into his hands and attempted to pry it open.

"Not for you." she snapped, flicking a small fireball at the man to get his attention.

It hit Warren square in the forehead, surprising him enough to stop. He looked up at the young woman.

"There a reason for that?"

She seemed flustered, something that made the man more determined than before to open the box and find out what it was that she didn't want him to see. Before she could walk up to him, he pried it open.

"Damn it." she hissed, the man's face dropping before she reached him.

There, smiling back at him, was the picture of himself that she had tried to keep secret. When his eyes met hers again, Aryana was already a crimson red. She was caught and she knew it. Warren had to admit, he wasn't expecting to see himself in the box and didn't know how to react now that he had.

Finding her strength, at least to cease any further embarrassment, Aryana moved forward and snatched the box, slamming it shut and tossing it onto the bed behind her. The two remained in a silent awkwardness for a while, the young woman wrapping her arms around herself while Warren slumped into the chair further. Eventually, Warren spoke up.

"So, how long you going to be in town?" he asked, trying to act like this was just a friendly conversation between friends, not exes.

She sighed, tilting her head to side and looking away from him.

"Why are you here Warren?" she asked in a weak voice.

He tapped his hand against the armrest of the chair before heaving himself up. Her eyes slowly traveled to the man as he approached her. He looked blankly down into her face. The two stared for an immeasurable amount of time and Aryana felt herself slowly sinking back into the way things used to be, the way she used to feel, when something grabbed her hand. Warren lightly laced his hand under hers, his eyes never leaving her gaze, and gently pulled her right hand away from her arm. At the same time, the two looked down and saw the aluminum ring resting on her digit. He rubbed his thumb against the soft metal. She felt stomach fill with butterflies at the sensation of his heated skin touching hers. Slowly, their eyes met again.

"Couldn't throw it away?" he asked softly.

She shook her head.

"I tried." she replied in the same hushed voice, looking back down at the joined hands. "I just couldn't do it."

She felt him nod, lowering their hands but he didn't let it go. He leaned a bit closer to her, towering over her still. She could feel the heat swelling between them like it did whenever they were too close. She closed her eyes, wanting it to disappear but desperately wanting him to continue.

Warren leaned over her, his chin touching his chest as he leaned down a bit closer. His cheek was lightly rubbing against hers, his eyes falling shut. He felt her breath hitch when he leaned closer, inching towards his target. Her breath moved into him with each pant before he claimed what he had wanted. Aryana gasped as best she could before his lips slammed into hers. She felt the familiar fire radiate through her body at their contact. Almost immediately, she molded into his touch.

Aryana's arms wrapped around his neck, Warren hugging her around her waist to ensure she wouldn't leave as he kissed her with the passion he had lost through the years. He held to her, almost desperately, silently apologizing for everything he had said to her in the past and the tears he made her spill. Aryana's mind was spinning with the familiar and new, all mixing within her before a startling reality broke through the haze. Only seconds after it started, Aryana pulled back.

Warren breathed a bit heavier than he thought a kiss would have made him, her forehead resting against his. A smile touched his lips when he realized she was just as out of breath. What he didn't seem to realize, was Aryana was tearing up. He heard her sniff and pulled back, looking sadly and confused into her face. Gently, he guided her eyes up to meet his.

"I can't do this." she said in a broken voice, stepping away from the man.

His brow tensed as she looked around, trying to focus on anything that wasn't him. The tears moved gently down her cheeks, the young woman running her fingers through her hair. He didn't understand, in the least.

"I'm sorry I just can't do this."

"You seemed to enjoy it."

She laughed weakly at his attempt to joke. A smile touched his lips but he still didn't get it. She soon explained. Her expression darkened slightly as she raised her left hand. Warren felt like his breath had been stolen from him at the sight of the ring shining in the dim light, mocking him from its perch on her left ring finger.

"I'm engaged." she said, her voice breaking completely this time.

His brow creased further, the ring still smiling its victory at him. His shock began to slowly turn into anger, the expression shifting on his face.

"I'm getting married in three months."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Warren say something." she nearly begged, the man standing there, silent, emotionless, for the better part of ten minutes.

He just couldn't do it. He couldn't actually force himself to say anything at the moment. He couldn't even take his eyes from the ring. He just stood there. Conflicting thought's ran through his head at the situation he found himself in.

"Warren,"

Her cracking voice made him look up, still unreadable. Her brow was creased and tears had moved down her cheeks as she stared at the man, becoming frightened the longer he didn't speak. Slowly, he seemed to come back to reality.

"Congratulations." he said before making his way towards the door.

There was no emotion in his voice. There was just… nothing. He might as well have been a robot as he moved passed her and gripped the doorknob.

"Warren wait."

He paused, the door only partially opened. He didn't move, only waited for her to say something. Aryana was shaking lightly, something she hadn't expected in the least.

"I'm sorry." she managed to say, her words barely making it out of her mouth.

Warren didn't want to say it, but he had to do something. He had to do anything to keep from boiling over like he wanted to do. So, turning, he did his best to force a smile though he was fairly certain it was nothing more than a twitch in the corner of his lips.

"For what?" he asked with a dark voice despite trying to seem indifferent or even marginally unhurt. "I'm happy for you."

And with that he left. The moment the door closed behind him, Aryana felt the same ungodly pain radiate through her body that had happened when the two had last fought. It was like someone had hit her in the gut, the young woman collapsing onto the bed as she cried into her hands. She knew him well enough to see the hurt in his eyes when he had seen the ring. She may never thought the two would ever see each other again, or rekindle anything they had but seeing that look made her realize how much she still cared about him whether she wanted to or not.

Warren had made his way back to his bike but hadn't actually left yet. He was still sitting on the bike, his hand on the clutch, ready, he just hadn't done it. He was still thinking about everything that had just happened. He had gone there to tell Aryana the truth, to see where he stood with her after all these years and he found it. As far as Warren was concerned, she had moved on. She had a new life now and honestly, what had he expected? Did he think she would come running into his arms and the two of them would forget everything that had happened? Pick up where they left off? Get married? Have a life with kids and all that happiness crap other people wish they had?

Yeah. He did.

Shaking the thought from his mind, Warren finally found the strength to start his bike and speed off to anywhere that wasn't here.

0o0

She didn't know how long she had been laying in bed, but she knew there were no more tears left for her to cry. She just lay there, staring at nothing, clutching her pillow with red rimmed and swollen eyes. She had nothing left. She felt completely lost, broken almost, and didn't know what to do anymore.

Until a moment ago, she had been certain she was doing the right thing. Marrying Jason was something she had wanted to do, the thing that made her happy, but Warren crept into her brain like a worm and made her doubt everything. After what had happened with them, there should be nothing remaining for the man. She shouldn't have any feelings for him, she should still hate him and want to inflict pain, but she didn't. It was like everything from the past eight years, all of the time she had missed him, thought about him, whatever, came screaming back all at once.

A loud ringing made Aryana realize someone was calling her. With a groan, she stretched and reached for her phone, answering it without even bothering to see who it was.

"Yeah?" she asked with a broken voice.

There was a pause.

"_Aryana, that you babe?"_

It was Jason. Aryana did her best to bite back another onslaught of tears. She was sniffing, doing her best to keep him from hearing she was crying. It didn't work.

"_Jesus baby, what's wrong?"_ he asked worriedly.

"I don't want to be here anymore." she said, breaking down almost instantly.

And she didn't. She wanted to go home, to forget that she had even come back to Maxville.

"_You want me to come out there and get you?" _

She could tell he felt helpless, being so far away, so she did her best to suck it up but it was difficult.

"I'm fine." she sighed, trying to take a deep breath to stop the tears. Her voice still trembled. "You don't have to come early."

"_To hell with that. I'll be on the next flight out. Okay?"_

A weak laugh left her mouth at his eagerness to help her, but it made things so much worse. It made her realize how bad a person she was for even doubting whether or not she should be with him.

"_Yeah. I'm coming. I'll be there soon okay baby?"_

She nodded and eventually said yes. It didn't make her feel any better though. If anything, it made her feel worse than before. She didn't know what she was supposed to do now but maybe it would help having him around. Maybe with Jason there, she would be able to realize how great she had it and how she really was over Warren. She hoped.

Jason had text her his actual itinerary, Aryana amazed he had been serious, so she knew when he would be getting in. hours had passed and by the time the flight was even remotely close, it would be nearly two in the morning. Nearly one thirty, she made her way to the airport and waited until the plane landed. She hadn't even realized his plane had landed until he came up behind her.

"Hey baby." he muttered, hugging her tightly.

"Hi." she smiled, forcing herself to look happier than she felt.

He pulled back and kissed her sweetly, seeing her still looking worried.

"What happened? You've only been gone a couple of days." he said worriedly.

She managed a weak laugh.

"Old ghosts." she sighed. "It doesn't matter now."

"Damn right. You got yo man here." he teased.

She shook her head laughing at the man as he looped his arm over her shoulder.

"So, does that mean I get to meet these made up friends?"

"You know, they say the same about you. Is it just completely unbelievable that I'd have friends or a fiancé?"

He paused for a moment as they made their way to the rental car place.

"Yeah. Kind of." he teased.

She slapped the man playfully as he went about getting a car. Jason knew who her dad was, but he had never once seen her change. She didn't want him to. It was a lot for someone to take, seeing a person turn into a giant demon, and she didn't want to do it. Hell, he didn't even know she could fly. She just didn't want something like her features to sway whether or not he cared about her. Maybe someday it would come and bite her in the ass, but she didn't care.

So, gathering their little sports car, the two set off to Aryana's hotel for some sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Aryana had called Layla and set up a lunch with her and Will. She seemed overjoyed to finally meet the fabled Jason but could tell something else was on Aryana's mind. She didn't want to get into it with her friend over the phone. Aryana simply said she'd tell the hippie later. So, setting a time and place, the group made their way toward the Paper Lantern.

"Now, don't get all… gooey. Okay?" she sighed.

"Gooey? That seriously what you just said?" he asked sarcastically.

"I don't want you turning into some kind of fan girl with Will."

He only shook his head as they walked inside to meet her friends. Layla hugged Aryana, the same for Will and shook the newcomer's hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you." Layla smiled, the four taking their seats at the table.

"Yeah. You guys too. Aryana's told me a lot about you." he smiled.

"So," Will chimed. "What do you do Jason?"

Aryana and Layla both cocked a brow to the man forcing a paternal tone of voice. He didn't seem to really notice.

"Hero." he smiled.

Will nodded his slight approval.

"Oh, speaking of," Layla suddenly chimed. "Are you going to the parade?"

Aryana just eyed her friend like she was insane.

"No." she laughed. "Why would I?"

"Cause you're a hero that grew up here." she smiled.

Aryana still shook her head.

"Nope. Ain't happening."

"You're a hero?" Jason muttered under his breath.

Will and Layla now turned to Aryana, giving her a disbelieving look. She only glared slightly at the two.

"I don't… hero much… anymore." she replied under her breath. "Anyway, I'm not going."

"Oh come on. Standing on a float with our costumes on would be cool." Will laughed.

"You just like attention." Layla smiled. "But seriously Aryana, come on. Your costume is awesome."

Aryana replied simply by sticking out her tongue. The parade was the next day, Friday and the reunion on Saturday. She really didn't want to be up on a stage, platform, step, float, what the hell ever, in front of a crowd of people, most of who she knew. She just thought it was kind of stupid that superheroes that grew up in Maxville were being saluted. She figured that if they were going to get any praise, it would be for doing something, not just having been born in the city.

"Please?" she asked with a smile.

Aryana looked up at her friend smiling happily at her.

"Fine." she grumbled under her breath. "I'll go, but I'm not dressing up. I'll be an observer."

"Oh that's such a cop out." she sighed.

"It's the best I can do." Aryana laughed.

Layla sighed. She should know better than to force Aryana to do something like that. Even more so given that apparently, Jason didn't even know the woman he was going to marry was a hero. She would have to have a talk with Aryana soon.

When the lunch was over, the two left, Aryana going around showing her home town to the man. Jason just looked as she pointed things out, buildings and businesses that would be around forever, where she and her friends used to always go, and whatever else as they made their way back to the hotel.

0o0

The sun rose soon enough and the two got ready for the parade that was supposed to happen soon. Aryana still thought it was stupid but it would be interesting to see. The two were finally ready, pulling their jackets and scarves on as they made their way to Main St, awaiting the parade to begin.

Kids were on their parent's shoulders, cotton candy and popcorn everywhere. It made Aryana smile. People were cheering, banners waving. You would have though this was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade the way people were acting. That's what it was. It was Maxville's Macy's parade. She chuckled to herself as the announcer came over the speakers and alerted them all to the floats bearing heroes.

Aryana waved when a few of the people she knew came by, the heroes waving to the crowd on floats that encompassed who they were or what their little shtick was. It was kind of cute, but what would hers have looked like? Fire, brimstone and bats? Yeah, she was glad she hadn't volunteered for this. Soon, the announcer came back over the loud speaker and with the excitement of a little kid, announced the approach of _The Captain_ and _Gaia_.

Aryana liked their names. Will, _The Captain_, was called so because his dad said he had to work for a promotion. In the Navy, the _Commander_ was above a Captain and that was always Steve's little joke. He always said that Will was good, but not as good as his old man. It made them all laugh and decided that _The Captain_ was a good enough name. It suited him. Then there was Layla, or _Gaia_ rather. Aryana was grateful she didn't go for something like Flower Girl or whatever. Adopting the name of Mother Earth seemed fitting for the girl in green and there hadn't been any objections yet.

The two soon rounded the corner and revealed themselves, standing high atop the most extravagant float, waving to the people below. She liked their costumed too. Will didn't take a cape like his dad. He wanted to, really he did, but he was scared people would start confusing the two. Good call given he was living in the shadow of two of the greatest heroes ever. Instead, he wore the same sculpted rubber suit his parent's donned. His was more blue though, then anything, with the same white stripe across his chest his father had. He didn't have a huge insignia in the center of his chest but he did have the eagle used in the actual Navy. It wasn't large or cliché, just worked for some reason. It made him look dashing. And Aryana couldn't tell them how grateful she was the two wore masks too. She never understood why people though glasses worked as a cover, but it really didn't. Plus, Will and Layla didn't like how they looked with them. So, instead, they each wore a small mask. Will did steal his father's _chic_ hairstyle though.

Layla on the other hand looked beautiful in her costume. She wore similar molded rubber as Will, but it was much thinner, not making her look bulky. It was variant shades of green, of course, and hugged every curve she possessed. Her hair was always down and curled lightly with an 'almost' cape. Her 'cape' was a sheer green fabric that hung loosely from her back and connected to her fingers like flowing wings almost. It really was beautiful and Aryana had always been slightly jealous of it.

They waved, smiling wide to the crowds below. When they came by Aryana and Jason, they waved excitedly making the young woman in the audience laugh under her breath. She waved back as they slowly rode pass at a brisk five miles an hour.

The parade went by as every other event, slowly, but continuously. Aryana stood there, watching the high school bands play as they walked by, kids with posters, signs and banners of their favorite heroes follow, the cops, the firemen, everyone. Everyone in the city seemed to come out for the event as the cold wind blew around them. It was almost endearing until Aryana felt something.

An uneasy feeling swept through her like the gusts of wind that surrounded her. She felt eyes on her, but she didn't know where they were. She scanned through crowd, searching for someone that might be the cause of the problem. To anyone else, she would sound paranoid, but she knew something wasn't right.

Another group of kids, Miss Anderson's third grade class, walked in front of her with their banner for the heroes and when they passed, she saw it. Warren. He was standing on the other side of the street wearing a thick black petticoat, his hands in his pockets and his eyes staring at her. Cold moved through her again, a feeling she never got used to through the years. She fought the shudder at the sight of his emotionless, nearly black eyes staring at her. He wasn't angry. He wasn't sad. He wasn't anything. He was just staring at her.

"Here you go babe."

The voice shocked her to, making her realize Jason had returned with their hot cocoa. She looked slightly startled by his approach, something he noticed, but she forced a smile regardless.

"Thanks." she smiled, taking it and returning her gaze to the man on the other side of the street, her smile fading instantly.

Jason smiled, leaning down and kissing her cheek. Abby noticed something flash across Warren's eyes, but he remained still. So much for a happy day at the parade…


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"So," Layla chimed in a higher voice than normal.

Aryana looked at her from the other side of the kitchen table. She knew that voice. The redhead didn't say anything further, only waited for Aryana to get the hint. She knew what Layla wanted to hear and sighed in response.

"Well what do you want to know?"

"Let's just start with the most recent thing."

"You're going to keep pushing aren't you?"

"Duh." was her only response.

Aryana rolled her eyes as Layla waited patiently.

"He…" she muttered, lightly tracing a circle around the lip of her teacup. "He came to see me. Yesterday…"

Aryana knew Layla was looking at her wide eyed, she didn't have to even look up.

"Well?" she asked urgently.

"He kissed me." she said, her voice dropping even further.

"That's…" Layla said happily before suddenly realizing the implications. "Oh. Oh no."

Aryana nodded.

"You told him didn't you? I mean… you told him right?"

She nodded again, feeling a burn touch her eyes and knew tears weren't far off.

"How'd he take it?"

She shrugged. She honestly didn't really know. Aside from the hurt in his eyes, he didn't say anything else. Layla could see the sadness in her friend's eyes and it broke her loving heart.

"How do you feel about it?" she asked in a soft voice.

Aryana finally looked up, her eyes glistening.

"I don't know." she answered honestly. Layla's brow creased sadly. "I don't know what to do Layla. Until a couple days ago, I was great with everything. I was so ready until…"

"Until what?'

"Until Sparky came to fuck it all up." she growled weakly.

She wasn't even mad at him, not really. He didn't do anything. If she was as over him as she thought she was, his little kiss wouldn't have done anything but solidify her decision to marry Jason. Instead, it threw her world into uncontrollable chaos.

The sound of a moving chair didn't register with the young woman until she realized Layla was hugging her side, resting her head on Aryana's shoulder. The young woman laughed lightly under her breath before leaning her head onto that of her long time friend's. The two sat there for a moment, Aryana lightly fidgeting with the ring on her finger. Layla seemed to notice the action and lightly took her friend's right hand to see the piece.

"You've had this thing as long as I can remember." she laughed, lightly touching the soft metal. "Where'd you get it anyway?"

A smile tugged at the corner of Aryana's lips as she remembered the story.

"Warren gave it to me. He always said he'd never buy me jewelry, that I'd more likely get a ball of foil instead. So, meet the ball of foil."

Layla smiled, laughing lightly. Her expression soon shifted back to the stoic, uncharacteristic one she had worn only moments ago. Aryana shared the look, both staring at nothing in particular, but thinking the same thing.

"You should tell him." Layla finally said.

"I know." Aryana whispered, as though the words would hurt less the quieter they were said.

Layla took a deep breath as she sat up, turning to face her friend. Aryana met her gaze as the two forced the same weak smile.

"Has he ever seen your ears?" she asked, slowly pulling a piece of hair behind her friend's pointed ears.

Reluctantly, Aryana shook her head and looked away.

"How?" Layla asked, more amazed than anything.

"If I pull my hair back, I tuck the tip in. They're easier to hide than you think."

"And he doesn't know you're a hero? An _active_ hero?"

She shook her head again.

"He's never even seen me change. All he knows, is I can make fire."

Layla shook her head, running her fingers through her long hair and leaning back into her seat. She looked sideways at Aryana who simply wore a despondent expression.

"Well," she sighed, holding up her two hands, palms up. "A man who knows who you really are, can handle your tantrums," she paused as the two laughed lightly. "And can keep up with everything you have to dish out. Or,"

Layla was holding her 'Warren' hand higher than Jason's, waiting for Aryana to add things to it and tip the scales back into his favor.

"A man who makes me happy. Who's never made me cry, and was there when he wasn't." she replied, putting her hand under Layla's 'Jason' hand and hoisting it up higher than 'Warren'. "No contest."

Layla smiled kindly, putting her hands back down.

"Then why are you still crying because of him?"

Aryana met her dearest friend's eyes and forced the same weak smile to touch her lips as she had before. The two sat there, each thinking and knowing the same thing. Warren was the one she should be with, but he wasn't the one she was going to marry. True love, soul mates, kindred spirits, none of that was real. It was something written in books and stories, in movies, not real life.


	18. Chapter 18

**This one is to make up for how short the last one was. Let me know what you think! Thanks!**

**Chapter 18**

Aryana had felt horrible, still, as she and Jason made their way back to the hotel room. They had gone to the Stronghold's house for diner, Will anxious to show off his awards and whatever, watch a game and just bond with another guy while Aryana and Layla had stayed in the kitchen and had their talk.

When she didn't speak much, Jason asked why. She did her best to make it sound like she was only tired and wanted to take a shower before going to bed. She didn't want him to know everything that was contributing to the growing weight on her shoulders. So, the two made it back and like she had said, Aryana took a shower.

She had stood there for a while, not really sure why, as they water rushed down her head. At one point she sat and curled her knees into her chest. Her mind wouldn't shut up about everything. It kept repeating the best and worst with Warren, the same with Jason. She thought about how each of them made her happy in their own ways and what the two had done to hurt her in the past. Though, to be honest, Warren won that category hands down.

When the water began cool, Aryana stood, turning off the shower and brushing the water back from her face as she grabbed a towel and readied herself for bed. It was late, nearly one in the morning. She quickly realized that she had been in the shower for a better part of an hour, sitting and staring at the same cross section of tile before getting out. Jason was asleep and she wondered how pathetic she really was as she dried her hair and went to bed.

She was deep in sleep when something wrenched her awake. A shrill ring echoed through the air, one that would wake the dead. She groaned, barely able to open one of her eyes to see her phone vibrating, ringing and flashing on the end table. Jason was stirring and she always hated it when his phone woke her up, so gathering what little strength she had, she lunged for it and answered it quickly.

"Yeah?" she growled, not seeing the name but more than able to see the four am in blue on her alarm clock.

"_Aryana?"_ Layla's frantic voice made her shock awake faster than before.

"Layla? What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked quickly, throwing her blankets off and moving into the bathroom so Jason could sleep.

"_There's been an explosion."_

"What? Where? Is Will okay?" she asked, fearing the worst.

"_It was at Perdition."_

Aryana felt her stomach turn.

"What?"

Perdition was the super max prison where the worst of the worst super villains went to rot for their multiple life sentences. It was top security. Every inmate with powers was outfitted with a collar, a power suppressing collar. The collars allowed even civilians to look after the inmates, making them nothing more than human for the most part. The collars even had an anti-tampering device built in that would instantly shock the inmate like a taser and set off an alarm before knocking them out long enough for guards to get to them and fix the problem. It would sound barbaric if people didn't know what most of these criminals had done to get there in the first place. So in a place like that, where all the baddies went, you don't want to hear something like an explosion happened.

"_Apparently, there was a short in the collars power source, the thing that remotely did it you know? And half the inmates in the D block lost temporary power to their collars. It was enough."_

"Oh my god…" she groaned, planting her head in her hand. "What happened?"

D block wasn't the worst of them, but it was bad enough.

"_Well, you know Perdition's only about ten miles outside town right?"_

"Yeah?"

"_Maxville's infested with heroes."_ she said, sounding a bit more at ease. _"About ninety percent of the inmates are already back in custody."_

Aryana breathed easier than before, relieved, but quickly began to wonder why Layla had called her at four am so worried.

"Then what's wrong?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Aryana cocked her brow.

"Layla?"

"_I called because of one of the people that got out."_

"Who?" she asked quickly. "I don't have any archenemies."

"_I wouldn't say that…"_

Aryana looked confused. She knew she was by herself, but she was fairly certain she was making the same face she would if Layla was standing right in front of her.

"I'm pretty sure I'd…"

"_It's Andrea." Layla interrupted._

Aryana paused.

"Huh? Are you talking about that skeeze that dated Warren after me?"

"_Yeah."_

"What the hell do I care? I never even met her."

**At the prison.**

Layla stood there in full costume in Andrea's cell, her and Will along with others already having caught up with most of the inmates in the past hour. She held the phone to her ear, looking around the small eight by six cell in solitary and felt her stomach turn.

"Well, she knows you."

There were pictures of Aryana from newspapers and anything else public hanging all of the girl's wall, pictures she had taken before being caught when Aryana was still with Warren. It was jarring. She didn't have any of Aryana in costume because, well, only a handful of people even knew who she was as a hero, these were all of Aryana and her work as a councilor. They were of her accepting small awards for rehabilitating kids and whatever. All of them were pasted crudely to the concrete wall with less than flattering things written around them, scathing, hate filled things that worried Layla enough to call her friend in the middle of the night.

"Aryana, I've spoken with the main psychiatrist here and… well… Andrea is kind of angry." Layla said, still staring apprehensively at the 'murder' wall. It was the only thing she could think to call it given the horrible drawings Andrea had drawn of her killing Aryana.

"_I never did anything to her. I don't care."_

"According to her doctor, she hates you. She blames you for her even being here in the first place."

"_I had nothing to do with that! I was already across the country by then."_ she defended.

"Andrea's not known for being rational. Apparently, she blames you for Warren dumping her and her getting caught by the Captain and I. According to records, Andrea was already mentally unstable and that whole event pushed her over the edge."

"_Evidently…"_

"Look, just watch out alright? She's insane and has you, literally, in her crosshairs."

"_But this still doesn't make any sense. Why me? I never met her, never saw her other than her macking with Warren, I was gone already, so why me?"_

"I don't know." Layla sighed. "She's nuts, I don't know what you want me to say. All I know is she hates you for 'stealing' Warren from her and blames you for getting dumped and caught."

"_Awesome."_ she growled sarcastically. "_So, where's Crazy Kathy anyway?"_

There was another pause.

"We don't know. She's one of the six we can't find and given her talent, it's not surprising."

"_Great, so she's probably already skipped town."_

"Maybe not." Layla replied halfheartedly, turning to see the other wall. It mimicked the first, all save the subject. "She's not too happy with Warren either. I have a feeling she's going to be sticking around for a while."

"_That's just great. Well what the hell am I supposed to do now?"_

"Just keep your head low until we find her. She's from Maxville so hopefully someone will see her and call it in."

"_Yeah, I won't hold my breath."_

"I just wanted you to know. I'm going to call Peace too and fill him in."

"_Okay," Aryana sighed. _"_Well, I guess I'll see you guys tonight then?"_

Layla smiled weakly, feeling a chill run down her back at the pictures of two of her friends surrounding her.

"Yeah. Tonight."

**Back at the hotel**

Aryana sighed, ending their call and walking out of the bathroom. The end table light was on and she was surprised to see Jason sitting up, groggily, waiting for her to come back to bed.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"It was Layla. Apparently there was a mishap at Perdition."

He woke up a bit more at that remark, having put a few of those criminals in there.

"What happened?"

"The collars short circuited so a few inmates got out. Layla, Will and a few others are pretty much done rounding most of them up." she replied, sliding into bed again and putting her phone down. Jason calmed slightly.

"Good. That's good right?"

Aryana shrugged.

"Apparently, one of them that got out has a grudge against me and Peace."

Jason stiffened slightly.

"What kind of grudge?"

"I guess she wants us dead. I don't know. I've never even met the chick before." Aryana replied matter-of-factly. "Whatever. She's just some crazy con Layla just wanted to give me a heads up about."

"So, we still going to the reunion?"

"Yeah. I guess. I mean, I'm not worried about her." she lied. "Let's just go to bed. Okay?"

"Yeah." he yawned, leaning over and kissing her gently. "Night babe."

"Night."

Aryana sat there for a moment as he turned off the light and let himself fall asleep. He always amazed her when it came to that, out before his head hit the pillow. Now was no different. Jason was lightly snoring in minutes. A smile touched the corner of her lips, but she was still thinking about what Layla had said. How crazy was crazy? Well, if the woman had pictures of Aryana when the two had never met, maybe that was the gauge.

Without her knowledge, Aryana's hand moved towards her phone and gripped it. She held it gently in her hands for a moment before unlocking the screen and scrolling through her contacts until the name was highlighted. _Sparky_. She didn't know why, but even after everything, all this time, she hadn't deleted his name and number from her phone. Even though she was certain his number would have changed, especially after so long, but she felt compelled to warn him too.

"_Andrea escaped. Watch your back."_

Was all she wrote before sending the text. With any luck, it wasn't his number anymore and someone would wake up to some cryptic text and ignore it thinking she was nuts. If she wasn't lucky enough for that, and this was his number still, he had already deleted hers and wouldn't know she had been the one to send it. She wasn't sure why, even regretting it after it was gone, but felt better for saying she hadn't done something.

Closing her phone, she set it back down on the table and scooted into the blankets. She sighed, closing her eyes and readied herself for bed when she heard a chirp. Her eyes narrowed slightly on the phone before she took it. Maybe the people she had text were asking her who she was. She was wrong. Her heart dropped instantly at nothing more than a single word.

_Sparky: "Thanks"_

Aryana found herself sitting there, staring at the six letter word and feeling nothing but panic inside.

0o0

Warren had just gotten off the phone with Layla, warning him about Andrea. He growled to himself, sure he attracted nothing but psychos as he went to bed. He rubbed his head repeatedly, trying to figure everything out when he fell into his bed. Growling to himself again, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, fearing she may actually come to his house in the middle of the night.

_Chirp, Chirp_

His brow pulled together as his massive paw swatted at his phone and grabbed it. Irritated, he glanced at the screen and flipped the device open. Warren's breath caught in his throat.

_Firefly: "Andrea escaped. Watch your back."_

His brow creased tighter to the point it hurt as he read and reread the message over and over again. She still had his number. True he still had hers, but no one knew that. Why did she still have his number? He didn't understand. He had been so certain she would have deleted it after all these years, that he almost forgot that she had attempted to warn him.

So what now? Did he let her know his number was still the same? Should he just let it go? He was still fuming about everything but he couldn't blame her for it. More angry with himself, Warren text her back a simple sign of his appreciation and put his phone back, doing his best to try and go to bed.

Maybe he would make it to the reunion after all.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Aryana had gone to the Stronghold home with Jason because Layla wanted to get ready together. She was fine with it. It was kind of like prom again, kind of. She had grabbed her things and made her way over there, neither Jason nor Will having to do much and elected to play a few games of pool while they waited.

"So, what do you think?" Layla asked as she stepped into the room she shared with Will wearing her dress.

Aryana looked up and smiled. Layla was wearing green, go figure, but it looked beautiful. Her hair was down and in soft waves around her face. She wore a beautiful strapless, emerald green dress that hugged her torso but splayed out playfully from her hips, stopping just at her knees. It looked like an elegant spring dress and was absolutely perfect for her.

"I love it." Aryana smiled with a light laugh. "Only you could wear green day in and day out and make it always look good."

"I try." she teased. "You're turn. Go change and then we'll do make up."

Aryana rolled her eyes at her friend and gathered her garment bag. She moved into the bathroom and began to get dressed. A moment later she emerged wearing her own little black dress. As many black dresses as there were in the world, you had to be careful not to get a plain one sometimes. Aryana didn't.

It was a simple, form fitting black dress that hugged every curve she was born with and looked wonderful. She wore capped sleeves and other than that, you had to actually _look_ to see the detail. The seams in this dress made their own designs, geometric lines that accentuated everything and that wasn't all. When Aryana turned around, Layla laughed. There was a cut out in the back, a triangle that pointed up and revealed her shoulder blades.

"That is so very you." Layla smiled. "I love it."

"Every girl needs a little black dress." she smiled.

"Too true. So, are you going to let your hair down or just leave it in the messy bun?"

Aryana stuck out her tongue at her friend teasing her but couldn't keep the smile from her face. The two women laughed and moved into the bathroom to finish getting ready in front of an impressive vanity mirror.

When the two women emerged, the boys were finishing their beers and smiling about their friendly game of pool. Will won. At the sound of the high heels, they turned, both wearing a rather stunned and impressed look on their faces. Layla had finished off her look with a beautiful necklace, pair of dangling earrings and gold brushed in the smoky eye fashion around her eyes, topping it off with lightly glossed lips. She looked stunning.

"Wow. You look great." Will smiled, coming forward and kissing her sweetly on the cheek.

Layla blushed and thanked her husband.

"You too babe." Jason added, mimicking Will's movements.

Aryana smiled. She had done smoky eyes too but with black and silver, making her gray eyes pop all the more and finished her look off with the jewelry she hadn't removed since being there, hoop earrings and a pair of heels Layla warned her about. She was certain her friend would fall soon, but they did look good.

"You guys ready?" Aryana asked.

"Yeah. You need me to…" Will said, offering to fly all of them to the school. He was more than strong enough to take all three of them.

"No man. I've got it." Jason smiled.

"You can fly too?"

Jason nodded proudly.

"Wow man. What are the odds that both of you…" Will was silenced quickly with Layla's elbow to the side. He quickly remembered what his wife had said, that Jason wouldn't know about Aryana. "That… we can fly."

"Nice save." Layla muttered.

"Let's go!" Will chimed, the four making their way outside and setting off towards the school.

Aryana held tightly to Jason's back as he altered the wind around them to take the two of them to the school, Will and Layla not too far ahead.

It took the small group a moment to find the actual building, for obvious reasons, but when they had they were surprised. The trees that surrounded the campus were strung with lights, banners welcoming the alumni and all other manner of beautiful decorations.

"Wow. This is pretty nice." Will laughed as the two couples landed on the school.

"You went to school here?" Jason asked in slight awe.

The three nodded as they walked towards the main building.

"I thought Sky High wasn't… you know… in the sky."

"Oh yeah." Layla laughed. "When you're a freshman and on the bus for the first time, let me tell you something, nothing prepares you for that."

"Yeah." Will laughed as he continued. "Ron drove us right off the side of a bridge before the rockets came out and we flew up here. Scared the hell out of us."

"I bet." Jason agreed.

Arm in arm with their partner, the two couples made their way into the large gym that had been converted into the dance, again. It brought back so many memories, being here again, good and bad. Music was playing, balloons and banners everywhere, teachers they all once knew, everything was right here.

"You made it!"

The happy voice made the others turn in time to see their old friends coming up behind them. Magenta, Ethan and Zach were all walking towards the two. It had been so long since Aryana had seen Zach and Magenta, that she almost hadn't recognized them and was sure the surprise was written across her face.

Magenta, who used to don the more Goth punk style, was surprisingly clean cut. She wore a little black dress like Aryana, but had purple stripes on the sides. Her hair was cut relatively short and slightly spiked with remnants of purple still remaining behind. Not to mention, she was actually smiling.

Zach on the other hand was still towering over everyone, thin like before but looked like he had grown into himself. He didn't look as awkward as before. He still had fluorescent blonde hair and wore clothing near the same shade. He looked good too.

"Hi guys!" Aryana beamed, hugging them all as they hugged her.

They made small talk for a moment, the others seeming almost completely shocked when she introduced Jason as her fiancé instead of boyfriend, but even Zach was able to keep from blurting things out. She was eternally grateful for it.

As the night went on and the festivities commenced, complete with a slideshow and meal, Aryana felt herself looking around and noticing Warren wasn't there. She wasn't sure what she expected, but part of her had hoped he would actually come. She was slightly hurt, something Layla had picked up on. When she looked up over the table, Aryana saw Layla looking sadly at her.

"Come on." she suddenly chimed as she stood. "Let's go powder our noses."

Unsure of why, Aryana agreed and with Magenta busy with Zach, left the gym. The two walked for a while before it was obvious Layla had no intention of them going to the bathroom. Instead, they made their way through the halls.

"So, what's got you so down?" Layla asked knowingly.

"Nothing." Aryana lied.

The hippie rolled her eyes with a smile before looping her arm around her friend's.

"I've known you for too long to believe a crap lie like that." she teased. The two shared a weak laugh but dropped the subject and walked through the halls.

After a sufficient amount of time, they began to make their way back to the gym. They could hear people laughing and music going as they danced. It made Aryana smile, the people she hated in jail and the ones she actually liked having a blast. As the two made their way in, stopping off to grab a few drinks, something crept down the young woman's back. She held two cups in her hands, Layla pouring one for her and Will when Aryana felt a familiar burning feeling.

Layla scooped some punch into the young woman's glass before noticing the completely blank expression on her friend's face and seeing her eyes dart around the room. It worried her.

"Something wrong?" she asked quietly.

"No, it's just…" her voice was lofty as she gathered the courage to turn around.

There, walking in the front door, was a new group of alumni, but it wasn't them that caught her eye. The small group, laughing and smiling as they found people they knew, broke off, revealing the one she had felt. Warren. Aryana felt her breath hitch in her throat as he walked into the gym, his hands in his pockets as he looked around the room. He stood there for a moment in a black on black three piece suit complete with a matching black silk tie. The only color in the entire outfit, was the red kerchief in his pocket that stuck out in stark contrast.

He looked around, his keen eyes scanning the room around him before stopping on Aryana. She could see him jolt, just as she had, when he saw her. The two stood there for a moment, silent, immobile and more than thirty feet away just staring at each other. She was so lost in her own world, that Aryana hadn't noticed anything around her.

"Yo Seth!"

Someone nearby had yelled for someone else and scared the hell out of Aryana. She jumped, dropping one of the cups and instantly feeling stupid. Warren watched as she closed her eyes and groaned at her own stupidity, the red liquid pooling at her feet. Fortunately for her, Layla was right there and handed her a handful of napkins. He felt a smile touch his lips as he walked over towards her, willing to use the excuse that he was saying hello to Layla if he had to as the young woman dropped napkins on the ground and began to wipe her leg. Warren didn't want to admit, he watched that before making his presence known.

"Ever so graceful."

The familiar voice made her stop suddenly and look up through her hair, slowly moving to stand.

"I'm lucky that way." she replied softy, wondering if they were going to ignore their last meeting and pretend to be friends. "Surprised you came."

"I could say the same for you." he replied before seeing Layla. He smiled kindly. "How's it going Hippie?"

"Oh you know," she smiled weakly. "Saving the world one plant at a time."

He smiled and moved towards her, placing a hand on her back and pulling her into a weak hug, kissing her cheek respectfully.

"You look good." he replied. "Stronghold here?"

"Yeah. Everyone's here." she answered, pointing to their table.

He nodded to the two women and moved towards them. It took him making it halfway before they realized what had just happened. Aryana spun to face Layla.

"You just sent _Warren_ to the table where _Jason_ is sitting." she hissed under her breath.

"Oh God.." Layla sighed. "Come on. Get the drinks. Hurry."

With relatively frantic moves, the two women got the drinks they had meant to get and began their dance through the crowd. In her mind, Aryana couldn't get there fast enough. When they were closer, she could see Warren saying hi to his friends, still respectfully, before looking to Jason. A few more steps and she'd be within ear shot.

"I don't think we've met before." Warren said kindly to Jason.

"No," he smiled, ever the gentlemen as he stood and took Warren's extended hand. "Jason. Jason Rigby. And you are?"

A sly smile touched Warren's face, Aryana could see it just as she and Layla made their way to the table. He glanced sideways at Aryana before back to Jason.

"Warren Peace."

The smile faltered on Jason's face as he looked to Aryana. She groaned internally and nodded from where she stood. Understanding everything when he released the man's hand, Jason grabbed Aryana and gently pulled her closer.

"So you're the one that broke my _fiancée's _heart?" he asked, the polite tone leaving his voice.

The ones who knew the young man wondered if he would blow up, light up, or get pissed by Jason's comment only to see him scoff slightly and his expression remain unchanging.

"I think it's safe to say everything was mutual." he replied cryptically.

There was an odd silence that stretched through the small group, suddenly broken by a loud scream. Their attention quickly shifted to their right just as something exploded. A bright whist cloud filled the area before dissipating. The moment the mist had gone, everything it had touched and left behind was frozen solid, including the people.

"Oh my god…" Layla gasped as the group stood from their table.

Another volley of screams shifted their attention to the other side of the room, the others sharing the same fate. Confusion ran rampant through the remaining people, some trying to flee, some trying to find out what was going on. The group of heroes began to scramble, running to get a better look at what might be happening when Magenta suddenly called out. They turned to see her frozen solid, her face in the middle of screaming.

"Magenta!" Zach called, rushing for her and slipping before he could gather his footing.

He barely made it to her side before a blue ray slammed him in the back, solidifying him. One by one, others in the distance we being picked off by the invisible force until the dance was eerily calm. Warren lit his arms, moving around wearily with the others when a sound alerted them to something. A small disk slid towards them, coming to a stop between the small group of remaining heroes.

"Run!" Aryana yelled before the disk suddenly burst.

Before the others could move, the object spewed the frosty mixture into the air. Aryana was ready to encompass everyone in fire to try and help them when something grabbed her in the back and pulled her free. She hit the ground, hard and dazed for a moment. Her head had slammed into the ground because whoever had tried to 'save' her, didn't seem to be gentle about it.

Groaning, Aryana sat up slowly, her head spinning before blinking everything into focus. Everyone, everyone around her, her friends, classmates, teachers, whoever, was frozen solid, fear written across their faces. Her brow tensed when movement caught her eyes. Aryana spun around to see a haggard woman clutching a battered man's collar. He hung relatively limply in her hand like he had been beaten, a bit of blood on his chin proving her theory. She gasped, seeing the twisted smile on the woman's face.

"What the hell do you want?" She growled angrily.

"You." the stranger chimed, holding a familiar freeze ray. You build enough of them in Mad Science, you recognize them. The stranger laughed wickedly and shook the limp man gently. "And him. You took something from me, so now you have to pay."

"Andrea…"


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

The ones frozen were still more than capable of seeing and hearing everything that was going on, they just couldn't move. They watched as their friend turned and confronted the crazy woman on the dais. They screamed at one another, Aryana standing there and arguing though Andrea looked completely at ease, even sipping a drink.

Out of nowhere, Aryana let out the most pain filled scream any of them had ever heard before, the sound of ultimate suffering and hurt. The two that were able to do something about being frozen were trying their best to escape their confines, Warren heating his body the best he could, Will doing his best to crack and break the ice around him.

Warren wanted to get to her, to help Aryana, his heart breaking as he stared at her. She curled into herself, crying and shaking. He was nearly free. But he wouldn't be free in time.

Before he could get loose, Will too, Aryana began to change. They watched as she shook, screaming a horrible scream as her skin turned gray, something it had never done before. They watched in horror as she yelled at the heavens, her body still morphing and changing. Like before, she curled into herself as her dress began to rip along the seams, her wings suddenly sprouting from her back. The two of them knew they didn't have long before things got worse. The problem was, they got worse faster than usual.

Something was wrong, something was different and soon they saw why. Unlike any other time before, something began to push through the back of her dress. It wasn't her wings, obviously, and it looked… wrong. Their question was soon answered when a tail of all things burst through her dress.

As suddenly as it had happened, it was over. Slowly, they watched as Aryana stood like some kind of monster, ready to kill a village. They weren't far off. Aryana moved forward, towering over those near her, taller than she was before, bigger and radiating intense heat. Andrea looked worried now, more so when fire sprouted from her hands and trailed to the ground like deadly whips. She took steps forward, the two men able to see her foot prints left behind.

Warren hurried, able to finally step from his icy prison as Will shattered his. The two moved forward, silently to not spook Aryana, when she spoke. Her voice was hollow, evil and sounded nothing like she ever had before. She was pass the point of rage, of anger and hatred. She was homicidal and all of it was aimed to one woman.

He went to take a step forward when Aryana suddenly swung a whip over her head, gathering the leverage needed to send the end of it towards the woman. It ripped through the podium on the dais, sending it into hundreds of smoldering pieces before things got worse.

Suddenly, her swings became erratic. Aryana looked confused as she began to swing the whips all around her, trying to take out invisible forces. The two men knew what was wrong. Andrea was making her see things that weren't there and if they didn't stop the demon, she may very well destroy everything.

Aryana screamed, fearfully almost, as she swung desperately around her. She was so blinded by rage that she didn't have time to realize that this might not be real.

"I'll kill you!" she screamed, swiping a table and sending it into a flaming mess. "Hold still you bitch! I'll rip your head off!"

The whips soon changed to fireballs, a more terrifying concept given how many people were frozen around her. They didn't know what she was seeing, but it wasn't good.

Will tried to step closer but the heat was too much for him, nearly singing his clothes.

"Dude, I can't get near her. She's burning too hot."

"I'll do it." Warren muttered, moving forward quickly.

The heat that surrounded her was palpable, almost like a wall. He could feel it rolling off of her and nearly pushing him back. Determined to save her and everyone around them, he pressed on. He could smell his clothes beginning to smolder from the invisible fire around her and feared she might burn him alive if he didn't hurry.

Out of nowhere, Aryana turned to throw another fireball and Warren used his chance. He lunged for her, the young woman towering over him by a few inches, and grabbed her arms. She snarled, looking nothing like herself or that she may have recognized him. He didn't even recognize her to be honest.

"Aryana, come on." he said loudly, how words not making it through her haze. "Snap out of it!"

She tried to wrench herself from him, something that would have been easy if Will hadn't seized his chance and come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. Warren had managed to distract her enough to get the heat wave around her to dissipate, but her skin was burning him.

"Hurry up dude!" he yelled from behind the monster, trying to keep her from using her wings to shove him off.

"Firefly!" he screamed, a flash crossing her eyes before being engulfed again. "God damn it you stubborn woman, wake up!"

That, for some reason, seemed to be enough to get her to focus on him. Almost immediately, Aryana stopped struggling against Will, the fire disappearing completely and giving the other two a chance to breathe fresh air. She looked down through black eyes, her talon clad hand gently touching the man's face.

"Warren?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"That you in there or the crazy still around?" he teased.

Aryana weakly laughed before she looked at herself, Will stepping back. Her face contorted in fear as she saw everything about herself, everything that had never happened before.

"Oh god…" she whispered, doing her best to calm down and change back.

She had flashes of her dad in her mind, terrified she had done the same thing as she forced her body back to normal. Fear swelled inside her the longer it took, but soon enough, when she opened her eyes, Warren stood taller than her again.

Without bothering to control herself, she lunged for him and hugged him tightly. Warren returned the affection, not caring if the people around them could see it. He buried his face in her hair as she clung to him.

"What the hell happened?" he asked as she pulled back, seeing tears falling down her cheeks.

"Nothing." she lied, looking to Will and seeing his jacket and shirt burned. "Oh Will I'm sorry."

"Nah." he laughed. "But uh, we've still got a convict on the loose and we have to thaw all these people, so can we do this later?"

The two nodded before carefully coming up with a plan.

"I want Andrea." Aryana growled when their planing was complete.

Warren heard the hatred in her voice and looked at her. She felt the action and paused as the trio made their way down the halls.

"What?" she asked, trying to look innocent.

"What'd she make you see?"

"What do you mean?" she fidgeted.

"Andrea's like Martha was." he replied.

Aryana felt her stomach drop. So, Layla was right. Andrea really did create illusions. Aryana wrapped her arms around herself and started walking again.

"I don't want to talk about it…"

He eyed her curiously, wondering what had her so bothered and flustered until he realized what she had screamed. She had screamed and changed because Andrea made her see someone dying. Judging by the way she freaked out, Warren was fairly certain he knew who too. Jason. Andrea most likely forced Aryana to watch her kill Jason, something that never happened, but was easy to notice when the woman screamed, _you killed him_.

He felt a pit grown in his stomach as they discreetly rounded another corner towards the science lab.

"You think she left it in there?" Aryana finally asked. "I mean, she stole the Freeze Ray, why would she leave the Reverse Ray in there?"

"She didn't go here." Will said. "Medulla keeps the Freeze rays in the open. He keeps the Reversing Ray in his desk."

He peeked around another corner and saw the door to the science lab open. He took a deep breath, trying to see if she was anywhere nearby and when he felt it was safe, they moved forward.

"And what are we going to do to stop the psycho?" Aryana finally asked as they slipped into the room.

"Well, hopefully she won't try to steal those white bracelets Medulla made." he sighed heavily, as though terrified about the concept.

Aryana suddenly froze, standing up right completely.

"White bracelets? The hell do those have to do with anything?"

Will sighed, moving towards the desk when he turned to face her.

"Doesn't Tony tell you anything?"

Aryana looked slightly hurt and shrugged.

"Not about work." she defended weakly.

Will shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Ethan told me Tony's been helping Medulla make these white bracelets that enhance a super's powers." he started. "There's something in them that makes the Super's power grow like tenfold."

"The hell would he make something like that?" Warren hissed. "You know what'd happen if a villain got a hold of those?"

"That's what I'm saying. Hopefully she didn't get them."

"That's stupid." Aryana snapped. "Why would he build something like that?"

"Probably just because he could. Look, can we talk about this later? We need to get the…"

"Looking for this?"

The voice made the group turn slowly, the haunting tone that worried all of them. Andrea stood at Medulla's desk holding a red ray gun in her hand and a white bracelet dangling from her wrist. Smiling happily, she waved the trinkets at the heroes.

"This wouldn't happen to be the bracelet would it?" she cackled.

"Oh god…" Aryana gasped, trying to quell the rage within at the sight of the woman.

"Wanna try to take me on now?" she growled at the demon woman. "With this much power, I can make entire groups of people, buildings full, see anything I want and there's nothing any of you tight wearing dicks can do about it."

She began to laugh wickedly at the three as they stood there watching her revel in her victory.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"Yeah… no." Will suddenly chimed.

The laughter quickly stopped, the young woman looking to the three. They were smiling, proudly, while she stood there confused.

"But… you said…"

"You really think we're stupid enough to talk when we don't know where you are?" Aryana asked sarcastically.

"Jesus, you really are crazy." Warren sighed.

"I'm not crazy!" she screamed, pointing the gun at them and pulling the trigger. It popped, like a bubblegum bubble would, and nothing else. "What?"

"That's not a working gun. Medulla uses it as a model." Will chuckled.

She looked up through rage filled eyes, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the Freeze ray.

"_This_ one works." she hissed, taking aim and firing.

Fire engulfed the area in front of the three, hot enough to keep the ray from penetrating, all fueled but hatred. When the ray was done, the fire ebbed, revealing them unhurt. Andrea looked frightened and suddenly closed her eyes. She was chanting something under her breath repeatedly before looking up and nearly crying.

"No!" she screamed, slamming her eyes shut again. "They don't see me, they don't see me, they don't see me, they don't see me."

When she opened her eyes again, Aryana had started advancing, anger darkening her features.

"NO!" Andrea bellowed.

Aryana reached out and snatched the frail woman's wrist with the bracelet. She twisted it painfully, bringing the woman to her knees and not above letting her hand grow hotter by the second.

"Give me that." she hissed, snatching the gun away. "This bracelet," she said, holding the arm up so Andrea could see. "_Drains_ super powers up to an hour after it's taken off."

"No! You have to pay! You have to die!" she began to holler again, this time flailing around in a fit. "You have to pay! You have to die! You have to pay! You have to die!"

She repeated the words over and over. Aryana was disgusted with her, shoving the sick woman away from her and fighting the urge to burn her alive where she was. After what this woman put her through, death was what she wanted to give her but it would be too easy. Letting Andrea live a long life knowing she couldn't beat Aryana would be so much more gratifying. Especially now that Aryana was planning on making a weekly trip to the prison if she had to. Just to torture the convict.

"Night, night." she replied evilly, aiming the gun and firing.

Instantly, the chanting screams stopped and Andrea was left as nothing more than an ice sculpture.

"God I hate her." Aryana mumbled to herself, looking down at the gun and seeing the 'undo' switch. Medulla always installed one, except on the Death Ray, just in case. "Are there anymore around here?"

"I think I found a Thawing Ray." Warren replied, turning it on and letting it charge. He didn't really want to use it on his friends without testing it first, so when it was ready, he shot Andrea. She instantly began chanting again like nothing had happened, Aryana re-freezing her. "Works!"

"I found another Freeze Ray." Will finally said, switching it to reverse. "Come on. They can't stay like that long."

The three turned and all but ran to the gym, knowing damage could happen if people were frozen for too long. They spun around the corner, sliding on the floor before getting their footing and taking aim on the people around them. Slowly but surely, the class of superheroes were thawed and other than being slightly cold, were happy to be so.

Cheers echoed loudly, loved ones running to loved ones and hugging them tightly, grateful to be alive. Thankfully for Aryana, most of the people there were either at the wrong angle, or just couldn't get a good look at her when she had changed. All that was, save her friends. All of them had seen it and it scared the hell out of them, more so Jason.

Aryana could see the fear in the man's eyes when she walked towards him. He looked at her in her torn dress as though he didn't recognize her. She knew this was hard, not only with what happened, but given he had never seen her change before and honestly didn't know she could.

"What the hell was that?" he asked loudly.

"Jason, let me explain." she whispered, trying to keep people from overhearing them as she took a step forward.

"Don't come near me." he growled, still frightened, and taking a step back from everyone she took forward.

Aryana's face contorted into hurt. She never wanted this, any of it, and here it was staring her in the face. Slowly, as tears formed in her eyes after everything that had happened, she nodded to the man.

"Okay." she said in broken voice, taking a step back. "Whatever you say."

"I uh…" he took another step back, his hands on his hips as he looked around, trying to look more in control than he felt. "I'm uh… I'm going to head home. You'll be fine here."

"The hotel, or home?" she asked, trying to clarify things.

"Home." he asserted, looking back to her. "I need some time to try and… I have to go."

He couldn't manage a whole sentence but she knew it was over. She could see it in his eyes. He'd never see her as anything other than that demon. She nodded as best she could as he turned and moved to the doors. Aryana felt as though she'd been punched in the stomach and turned, Layla there instantly to hug her friend tightly. Whether she wanted to or not, Aryana began to sob into her friend's shoulder.

Warren had seen the display from his spot about ten feet away, heard it too, and felt like he had to intercede. He knew that she had only gotten that way because she had thought Andrea had killed Jason, so this had to break her heart. He may not have had the best record with her, but that was his fault. He had made up his mind that she would never have to feel like that again as he moved out, chasing after Jason.

When he made his way to the bus loading area, Jason was already getting ready to leave. He had to stop him now.

"Hey Jason!" he called, jogging lightly after the man.

Jason turned and sighed heavily at who had followed him but didn't try to leave.

"Hey man. Thanks, for that, but I have to go."

Warren slowed as he reached the other man and just stared at him.

"Why you heading out without Aryana?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"She's uh… she's going to meet me at the hotel later." he lied

Warren narrowed his eyes.

"You're going to leave her because of her power."

It wasn't a question, more of an annoyed declaration. Jason instantly steeled himself against the man, turning to face him completely.

"I don't think that's any of your God damn business Peace."

Warren managed a disbelieving laugh.

"You're pathetic man."

"What'd you say to me?" Jason growled, taking a few steps towards the man.

He was getting confrontational and although Warren was more than willing, he had to resist. He wanted Aryana happy and if it was with Jason, fine. He had to try and not hurt the man too much before then, but fine.

"I said you're pathetic. You're scared because she transforms for her power. Pa-the-tic."

"She never told me she could do that!" he yelled back, defending himself. 'Cause trust me, if she ever said she turned into a giant demon, I would've left her as ages ago."

Warren felt his arms light before suppressing the fire.

"You piece of shit." he growled, moving towards the man. "You don't deserve her."

"You know something Peace, you're right. All you villain kid freaks deserve each other." he taunted.

Warren couldn't stop himself as he swung, his fist violently connecting with the man's jaw and sending him reeling back.

"Peace whoa, come on man."

Arms encircled him when two people moved between the two men. Will held Warren tightly, sure not to crush him while Ethan and Zach moved between the brawlers.

"Come on guys, don't do this."

"Butt out Popsicle. I'm kicking this jerk's ass." Warren yelled. "You think you can call her a freak and get away with it?"

"She's a fucking monster dude, get over it." Jason yelled.

"Whoa, hey. That's our friend you're talking about." Zach warned.

"Oh yeah?" Jason laughed. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Just leave bro." he told him. "Before you _really_ get hurt."

Jason scoffed at them and fixed his jacket.

"Whatever." he sneered. "Keep her. I don't want her anymore."

Will let Warren go and watched with the others as Jason began to move.

"Tell her she can mail me the ring!" he called over his shoulder before sailing into the air and disappearing in the clouds.

"Dick." Warren hissed. "You should've let me kick his ass Stronghold."

"Yeah. I'm kind of wishing we all got a shot." he joked. "Come on guys, let's get back inside and see if we can salvage the night."

"Man," Zach sighed. "It's freshmen homecoming all over again."

They laughed and nodded as they made their way into the gym again.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Aryana was standing there leaning against the porcelain wall of the ladies room, staring at the ugly tile floor that was still the same, chewing on her lips. Magenta and Layla stood there, handing the young woman paper towels and tissue when she needed it but she seemed to have gone dry a while ago. Right now, she was just staring at the ground, her eyes pink and swollen, her waterproof makeup surprisingly resilient, and silent.

"Aryana, what happened?" Layla finally asked.

Aryana sniffed and straightened herself up as she looked up at her two friends.

"When?"

"With Jason?"

"He dumped me." she said simply.

"Dick." Magenta sighed causing the other two to laugh lightly.

It went silent again and Aryana could tell Layla wanted to know something else.

"Just ask Hippie." she sighed.

"How did you do that?" she sighed, feeling the weight leave when she said them. "I've never seen you get like that before."

"I never have before." she said softly.

"So what changed?" Magenta asked.

"What did she make you see?" Layla asked.

Aryana looked up at the worried faces of her two friends and began to replay the events in her mind, telling them what had happened.

_She looked horrible. Andrea looked absolutely horrible. Her blond hair was ratty and looked like it hadn't been washed or even brushed in months. Parts of it clung to the side of her head, dingy, dirty and just from the looks of her, Aryana was certain she was nuts. Her skin had become some sickly pale color, her figure skinny like she had stopped eating and a distinct look of malice and evil glinting in her hollow eyes._

"_What the hell do you want?" Aryana asked angrily, slowly making her way to her feet._

"_I have been __**dreaming**__ of this moment." Andrea cackled, stressing the word with a frightening amount of joy. "And I am going to enjoy it."_

"_So you got dumped, get over it you psycho!" she spat hatefully._

_Fury flashed across the woman's features, her smile instantly fading._

"_I'm. Not. CRAZY!" she cried loudly._

"_Could've fooled me." Aryana mumbled to herself. "I never even met you before!"_

"_I don't care." she sang. "You took him," she shook Warren, still unconscious to illustrate her point. "Away from me."_

"_He was never yours."_

"_Yes he was!" she bellowed, aiming the gun at the young woman._

"_That supposed to scare me? A freeze ray?" she taunted. "Please."_

"_This?" Andrea laughed wickedly, holding up the gun. "This isn't for you."_

_Aryana narrowed her eyes curiously on the crazy lady in the distance and wondered what the hell she was talking about. Before she could move, Andrea shoved Warren away from her. Without his bearings, the young man slide down the two steps of the platform and hit the ground hard. Aryana moved to try and get him before being stop._

"_Don't even think about it." Andrea warned as she moved towards him. The look in her eyes made Aryana agree, pausing in her steps. Andrea proceeded until she was right next to the man. "What makes you so special? Huh? How come he wanted you instead of me?"_

_Animosity dripped from her words._

"_Because I'm not nuts?" Aryana offered. "Just a suggestion."_

"_I'm not crazy!" she screamed again. "You want nuts? I'll show you nuts!"_

_Her voice echoed loudly in the strangely silent room before she took aim at Warren and fired. Aryana gasped suddenly as she watched him turn a horrible shade of blue, ice dripping from his body. Her breath was stolen from her for a moment as she tried to calm herself. _

_It was alright. There were rays in the science lab. She could fix this. Even if she couldn't get there, he survives fire. She could thaw him. It was alright… she repeated that to herself before Andrea moved._

_Her eyes were still on Warren's frozen body when Andrea brought something up above her head. She had no time to look up before Andrea brought down a sledge hammer on the brittle form of Warren Peace. _

"_NO!" she screamed, barely making it two steps when the sickly sound of shattering glass filled her ears._

_The sight alone brought her violently to her knees. Pieces flew in all directions, frozen solid and surrounding her. Aryana struggled to breath, her vision instantly blurring from the tears that burned her eyes. She curled into herself, holding her arms around her shaking body as she tried to gather herself._

"_He can't be gone… he can't be gone… he can't be gone…" she chanted to herself repeatedly. He couldn't be gone. He just couldn't be._

_Haunting laughter rang out around her, sending chills down her back that only added to the loneliness she felt growing within her. She began to rock slightly, trying to convince herself that this wasn't real but she couldn't. She felt empty, disgusting and filled with an uncontrollable rage the longer Andrea laughed at her._

_Aryana's head suddenly snapped up at the young woman, her eyes burning black as she stared through her hair at the one that had caused her current pain. She would never be able to tell him she was sorry. She'd never be able to tell him that she missed him, that she always thought about him and that she loved him. She'd never get the chance and it was all her fault. _

_In fact, all of this was all her fault. It was her fault the two of them had broken up. It was her that made Aryana leave, to go so far away. She was the reason that Aryana hadn't spoken to people she loved in eight years. It was all her and it was her time to pay._

_She felt as though every fiber of her being was beginning to vibrate with sheer, unadulterated hatred for the woman standing only a few feet away. Aryana felt her muscles begin to burn, her nails beginning to grow. She knew she was changing, there was no other thing it could be and she didn't want to stop it._

_A loud, terrifying roar escaped her mouth that wasn't human, Aryana arching her back and screaming into the air as her body turned a pale gray, looking more like the shade of concrete than skin. Her arms shot to her side as her wings burst from her back, shredding the fabric that held them in. _

_Pain, physical pain, began to spread through her as she curled back into herself, trying to hold her stomach. Her bones felt like they were breaking, her shoes choking her feet and the sound of tearing fabric touching her ears, barely audible over her screams. As suddenly as it had started, the pain ended and Aryana turned her hateful eyes back to the now nervous Andrea._

_Slowly she stood, taller than before, bigger than before and easily rivaling six and a half feet tall. She loomed there for a moment, stepping out of her destroyed shoes and moving forward, the air around her swaying with the intense heat, a tail whipping behind her. Solid black eyes trained on the one that had hurt her, destroyed everything she truly cared about and with another animalistic roar, Aryana ignited her hands, flames growing into dangerous whips. _

"_You killed him." she growled, her voice dark and foreign. She walked closer to the worried convict, her feet charring the wooden floor beneath them from the heat coming from her skin. "Now it's my turn."_

_She swung her fiery whip at the young woman only to see her disappear completely. Shock swept through her when a taunting laugh forced her to turn. Without warning, Aryana was surrounded by a dozen Andrea's, all laughing, all taunting and singing about having killed Warren. Fury clouded her eyes as she began to swing wildly around her, slicing through one Andrea after another only to have more show up._

_When it became clear the whips weren't working, Aryana reverted to the old classic. Fireballs. She began to throw them in all directions, wanting nothing more than to hit the woman and watch her burn but she couldn't. No matter what, they never seemed to catch. Screaming again with her frustration and anger, Aryana swung around to do it again._

_Her arms stopped. She felt something holding her, tightly, but all she saw was the Andrea laughing in the distance. Her rage lapped within as she smiled back. Aryana growled when something tighter wrapped around her body. Pressure engulfed everything, her arms and wings immobile. Anger began to shift to fear for a moment, the haze clouding her eyes again as she struggled._

"_Firefly!"_

_The name shattered her internal hell but only briefly. The pain of what she had seen was so intense, she felt it engulf her again._

"_God damn it you stubborn woman, wake up!"_

_The familiarity of the voice forced the blackness that surrounded her to lift. She looked around before seeing familiar brown eyes staring up at her. Aryana felt her hand move, gently touching the face that belonged to the one she knew to be dead._

"_Warren?" she choked, the air filling her lungs as though she had been under water and broke through the surface. _

_The black around her was gone completely as she saw him, there, before her, alive. But something else caught her attention. She was looking down at him. Down. Warren towered over her. Then came her hands._

"_Oh god…" she whispered, seeing what she had become. She was exactly like her father when he died. _

_Few people knew that his trigger was her mother dying. That had been what sent him over the edge he could never get back from, that had blinded him and caused him to kill people, heroes, and had ended his life. Fear swept through her as she closed her eyes and concentrated on turning back. She felt her body hurt, muscles burn, everything in her screaming against the transformation and making her terrified to even open her eyes. _

_When the pain stopped, she slowly opened her eyes and saw him looking down at her. Relief swept through her as Aryana lunged for Warren and held him tighter than she ever thought possible. Moments ago. She could have sworn he was dead, but now he was here, in her arms, and she didn't want to let him go every again._

"And then we went to the science lab and caught Andrea." Aryana finished.

She almost didn't want to look up but finally did to see her two friends staring at her, mouth hanging slack, eyes wide and silent.

"Whoa…" Magenta finally muttered.

Layla only managed an agreeing nod, unsure of what else to really do. They stayed that way for a while when there was a knock on the door. Layla was the one to move, knowing a woman wouldn't knock on the ladies' room door given there were stalls and not just a single bathroom. Slowly she opened it a crack and saw Will standing there. He smiled causing her to do that same.

"Hey. All you guys in there?"

"Yeah," she muttered, glancing back briefly before meeting his eyes again. "Girl thing."

He nodded, knowing she meant the crying and breakup.

"So Jason's gone." he said softly so the others wouldn't hear.

Layla sighed but nodded.

"I figured."

"Peace punched him in the face."

Layla looked up to see her husband smiling.

"No." she gasped, more surprised than anything.

Will nodded.

"Yup. Busted his lip." he laughed before his features darkened slightly. "Hell, we all almost took a shot at him after what he called her."

Layla's brow knit together.

"Don't worry bout it. I'll tell you later. So uh, when you guys coming out?"

She shrugged slightly.

"I don't know. I'll see if I can't get her out soon though. Okay?" she smiled sweetly. "But… her dress is kind of torn so I don't know."

"Oh yeah." Will sighed, glancing down to his singed clothing. With a shrug, he took off his jacket and handed it to his wife. "She can use this if she wants."

"Thanks sweetie." she smiled, giving him a kiss. "See you soon."

He nodded and walked off.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Layla, Magenta and Aryana soon made their way out of the bathroom after a while and into the gym. The fires Aryana had started were already put out and the authorities were alerted to Andrea's location. At the moment, she had been thawed out and put in the detention room when the door had been sealed with ice to lock her in until she could be taken away. No one really wanted to leave her frozen for too long given the damage it could do and they knew she'd take off the bracelet after finding out what it could do, so detention room was their only option.

The party had commenced after the disturbance, something the school and alumni were more than capable of doing given their past history, by the time the three young women had made their ways back. Zach and Will all but swarmed their dates while Aryana looked around and noticed Jason really was gone. Fine. Whatever. It wasn't the main thought running through her mind at the moment anyway.

"So, how you feeling?" Will asked, wrapping his arm around Layla's shoulder.

She shrugged slightly, wearing his large oversized jacket.

"Fine I guess. I don't really know." she answered uncomfortably. "Look, I'll take Andrea back to Perdition. You guys stay."

"What? You're leaving?" Layla asked.

"Yeah. I think I'm all _fun-ed_ out for the night." she teased with a light hearted smile. "I'll talk to you guys later okay?"

"Aren't you leaving tomorrow?"

She shrugged again.

"Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing."

They understood, really they did, and hugged her when she made her rounds to say goodbye. She told them that perhaps a nice lunch between friends would be better. You know, without the psychotic super villains. They laughed and agreed.

Aryana looked around for Warren and didn't see him. She felt kind of bad, wanting at least to say goodbye to the man after everything, but she couldn't find him anywhere. With her heart slightly hurt from the action, she made her way to the detention room, collected the crazy lady, and moved to the loading area outside.

"Let go of me!" Andrea screamed, squirming against Aryana's grip.

Her face was blank and angry. She was stronger than the convict, by a lot, so the struggling wasn't anything more than a minor inconvenience at the moment. It wasn't like she could do anything either. They had bound her hands and wrists after slapping the bracelet back on. It was useless, but she still tried.

"Will you knock it off?" Aryana growled. "If you start doing this in the air, I'll drop you and tell everyone it was an accident."

"You wouldn't dare." she hissed.

Aryana grabbed her and pulled her close so she could watch the woman's eyes turn black.

"Try me."

Andrea's struggling stopped, for a moment, but her mouth wouldn't. The young hero sighed and rolled her eyes. Thank God the prison was so close.

Aryana walked the two towards the nearest edge of the school they could get to, not too far from one of the light encrusted trees. Warren had been standing outside trying to get some air and heard voices, ones he knew. He looked up from his spot under the tree and smiled when Aryana threatened to drop Andrea. The fear in the convict's face was indeed priceless. But as he stood there, he realized she was going to leave and not come back. Sucking down his pride and trying to keep his voice level, Warren pushed off from the tree and walked towards the two women.

"Heading out?"

The voice made Aryana turn quickly. She felt her stomach fill with butterflies at the sight of the man. Warren did his best to try and keep from talking about the nasty business that had happened earlier, to quell his anger at Jason calling her a monster and all of them freaks as he approached.

"Yeah." she finally said. "I'm dropping Andrea off and I think I'm just going to head home."

"How long are you going to be in town?"

She shrugged weakly.

"I don't really know. You?"

He gave her the same response. An awkward silence stretched between the two, one Andrea tried to break until Aryana tightened her grip. She shut up pretty quickly after that.

"Look, I should get her out of here. They'll be missing her I'm sure." she teased lightly causing Warren to laugh to himself.

"Okay, well, maybe I'll see you before you head out."

"Yeah." she answered weakly as he walked forward. "Maybe."

Warren took the few steps to close the gap between them and hugged her before he could talk himself out of it. She clung to him like she had before, tighter if possible but he never made the sound of discomfort. The two stayed that way for a while before pulling back, Warren lightly kissing her cheek to the point she wondered if he had done it at all, and stepped away.

"Take care of yourself."

"Yeah. You too."

"Oh I'm going to be sick." Andrea spat hatefully.

"You know what?" Aryana asked rhetorically, gripping the woman and tossing her high into the air and over the edge of the school. "Bye bye!"

Andrea screamed loudly as she began to fall with nothing to land on. Warren couldn't keep the smile from his lips.

"You're going to catch her right?" he asked after Aryana didn't move.

She shrugged lightly, causing the man to become a bit worried.

"I suppose." she sighed, rushing towards the edge. "Bye!"

She waved briefly before diving over the edge of the school, Warren standing there and shaking his head at the crazy woman who literally put the fear of death in Andrea.

0o0

Aryana made her way back to the hotel room and found that everything Jason had brought with him was gone. She could see him in her mind at the airport waiting for the next available flight back to New York so he could get his things out of her apartment. It did hurt, more than she let on, because she knew he saw her as a monster. It wasn't like it was something she could change either, she was born that way. So yeah, it hurt. That and the two had actually been together for a bout two and a half years. They would've gotten married on their three year anniversary. A painful thought but what was she expected to do about it?

A shower was the first thing on her list and then room service. She was going to pig out and watch something on TV. Sure it wasn't far from cliché breakup stuff, but what works, works. Grabbing her long pair of pajama pants and a wife beater, Aryana made her way into the shower and got ready for a night of sweets and junk food.

When she emerged, she did as she thought she would, calling down to room service for all the things she wanted. She knew she was probably getting looks or something like that from the other end of the phone, she just couldn't make herself care. When she was done, she crawled into bed and waited, grabbing the remote and beginning to flip through the channels. No chick flicks. That was the rule, but anything else was fair game.

After about ten minutes, Aryana had settled for some kind of scary movie that never made it to the theaters. She was fine with that. After all, in two days it was going to be October anyway so horror movies were about to run rampant over the channels. When she had settled in and gotten comfortable, there was a knock on her door.

"About time." she growled, throwing off the thick blanket and making her way to answer it. "Coming!"

With a sigh that it had taken so long, she opened the door and froze.

"Warren, what uh… hi."

"Hi." he replied.

She eyed the man for a moment, noting he had changed his clothes into the standard jeans, shirt and leather jacket. She found herself wondering how long she had been gone.

"So what's going on?" she finally asked.

He eyed her for a moment. He understood her apprehension to let him in, but wondered if she was really going to make him stand in the hall the whole conversation.

"I came to drop something by." he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. "Here."

She creased her brow slightly at it and took it from him, moving aside.

"Come on in."

He didn't say anything as did as she asked, walking into the room and offering this time to sit in the chair near the window without messing with her like he had before. He watched as she opened the envelope and read the piece of paper within with confusion before looking at him.

"Is this real?"

He nodded. Aryana's eyes moved back to the piece of paper and laughed.

"This is so stupid." she laughed, taking a seat on her bed. "_Aryana Gehenna and Warren Peace, voted most likely to become the world's greatest Super Villains."_ she read, the 'award' obviously some kind of joke though she was certain whatever they gave Layla and Will would be more authentic. "They really do this?"

"Apparently." he chuckled to himself. "I thought you might like yours."

She smiled at the piece of paper that had most likely been done at some office store and printed out with their names on it. She finally looked up to him with the same kind hearted smile.

"Thanks."

He shrugged as though it were nothing, knowing he had used it as an excuse to see her again and talk to her. He was about to say something else when there was a knock at the door.

"Oh, uh…"

"Are you expecting someone?" he asked, standing and feeling a bit awkward all of the sudden.

"Hm? No, room service." Aryana replied absently, making her way to the door and letting the bellman in.

Warren watched as he rolled the typical white cloth covered cart into the room with different assortments of things on it before being handed a tip and closing the door behind him. Warren eyed the mass amount of silver trays with covers and wondered what exactly lay beneath all four of them and why there were metal skewers in a glass cup.

"You sure you aren't expecting company?" he asked again.

"Nope. Just me." she sighed, removing some of the tops and revealing what lay beneath. Graham crackers, marshmallows and bricks of candy bar chocolate. The skewers suddenly made sense. "Want to join me?"

He looked up at her and saw her smiling at the man kindly, a metal skewer in her hand.

"I guess I can take some time out of my schedule at the moment."

She shook her head at the man and handed him a skewer, stabbing two large marshmallows on her own. He shook his head at her for a moment before doing the same thing and having a look around. Warren cocked a brow to the room.

"Aren't you supposed to do this with a fire?" he asked sarcastically.

Aryana laughed lightly and held hers out in front of her. A second later, fire ran from her hand and surrounded the small white objects, charring them instantly. When they were perfectly roasted, she stopped and revealed her masterpiece.

"I think we'll do fine." she replied, grabbing the graham crackers and starting the s'mores she wanted to begin with.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

After a while, the two seemed to have calmed around one another. The alcohol helped. When the s'mores had done their jobs and turned to nothing, she ordered a bottle of whiskey. They just sat there, laughing at the horrible acting on the new slasher flick on TV, sipping on their drinks.

"This is so bad." Warren laughed when a rather large busted blond slipped and fell while running from the killer.

"Isn't it great?" she laughed, taking another drink.

He shook his head at the sheer amount of blood they used in this movie, amazed no one stuck to the sets with all of that corn syrup flying around.

They were getting close to the end of the movie, ready to reveal the killer. Aryana grabbed the blanket and threw it over her legs, getting slightly cold for some reason as she fluffed the pillow behind her back. Warren had gotten comfortable and thrown his jacket over the chair before joining Aryana on her bed, propped against the headboard. The two heroes were comfortable around one another now, on the outside, despite each thinking of how strange the situation really was. They knew, in their minds, that this shouldn't be this easy, that after everything the two should be more uncomfortable, but they couldn't make themselves be the one to break it.

At some point, he wasn't sure when, Aryana had fallen asleep against the man. Warren had been watching the movie when slight pressure had begun to weigh on his shoulder. He glanced over and saw Aryana slumping in her position, falling gently onto his side. He smiled to himself and knew that was his cue to leave.

As the dwarf on the screen sliced yet another co-ed to pieces, Warren grabbed the remote and flipped it off. Slowly, he moved, sliding to the side of the bed to try and get off and let her fall asleep. His plan wasn't full proof like he had thought. Apparently, she wasn't as 'asleep' as he had thought she was.

He wasn't even able to get more than one foot on the ground before she tightened her grip on him. Warren smiled again, shaking his head slightly. She had moved in her sleep, probably worried the bed or something was going to move out from underneath her and grabbed hold to make sure it wouldn't. So he paused, slowly moving again before she gripped his shirt tighter.

"Jesus. Death grip." he mumbled as he attempted to pry her fingers off of his shirt.

They wouldn't budge and he wasn't proud to admit she was stronger than him. Groaning to himself, Warren slid back into bed and turned the TV back on. It looked like he was going to be there for a while. At least until she let go of him in her sleep.

0o0

The sun began to pour into the double doors to the balcony, Aryana never having pulled the curtains shut before falling asleep. The two in the bed were ignorant to it, never moving, never budging as the harsh light crept further up the bed.

Warren had every intention of leaving at some point during the night, getting out of there and letting Aryana sleep. What he hadn't gotten was the chance. Before the end of the third movie he had watched, in fact he hadn't even made it to the middle of it, Warren's eyes began to fall and he fell asleep completely.

Warren lay there, curled to his left and his arms around Aryana. She clung to his side, holding him tightly as though he were her only life line. The young man was the first to rise, waking slowly and realizing that something was holding onto him. He froze when he opened his eyes, taking a second to remember where he was and who was with him. When he cleared his fuzzy vision, he looked down and noticed Aryana in his arms, her head resting on his chest and peacefully asleep. His heart began to race, wondering how he would be able to get out of the situation before she woke up and wondering if he really wanted to in the first place.

Her left leg was laying over his, her left arm over his chest and her hand gripping his shirt gently. She was adhered to his side and he seemed to be holding her just as securely. His right arm was holding her left gently, his left hand cradling the back of her head to his chest. He was slightly confused to how they had managed to stay entwined like this while they slept, the sheer amount of body heat between them enough to make them pull apart ordinarily. But not this time.

Slowly, Warren began to move, gently releasing the grip he held on her and attempting to slide out of her arms. Her limbs felt like they weighed a ton all of the sudden. He grimaced to himself, praying he could be smoother and not jostle the young woman but he had been wrong.

"Too early." she muttered quietly.

Warren tensed and looked down at the woman still resting on his chest.

"How awake are you right now?" he asked with a cocked brow.

Aryana suddenly stiffed, wide awake at the moment, and slowly looked up at the man that had spoken. She looked just as surprised as he did, maybe more, by their current situation.

"Hi." she muttered.

"Hi." Warren replied, looking down at her oddly.

Aryana forced a smile and glanced around, her mind slowly comprehending that this in fact was the situation. Eventually, still as confused as before, she rose and sat upright.

"So uh… yeah."

Warren felt a smile touch his lips, enjoying that she seemed a bit flustered by the situation. Her cheeks were slightly pink and though he couldn't tell if it was from her contact with his chest or the situation, he elected to believe she was just embarrassed. That seemed funnier to him.

"Sleep well?"

Aryana heard the arrogant tone of the man's voice. Her head turned slowly to face him, seeing his arms propping up his head, a smile touching his lips. She narrowed her eyes and punched him lightly in the stomach, knocking just enough air out of the man to wipe the look off his face.

Satisfied with what she had done, Aryana slid off the bed and stretched slightly, and tried to rationalize how awkward the situation was versus how happy she was it had happened. Still, weirdness was what she was going with at the moment.

"So uh, I think I'm going to take a shower and…"

"Do you want to get some breakfast?"

Warren had interrupted her random babbling, the attempts to get him out of the room, with his own questions. Aryana turned to look at the man, still sitting there as though everything was fine. She was confused.

"Um…" she muttered, her stomach suddenly growling with the prospect of food. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Why?" he asked simply, moving to stand and acting as though he were more comfortable than he felt. "Everyone's got to eat."

"Well yeah but…"

"Okay then. Why not come and get some food with me? I'll buy."

She was still staring at him, confused. She didn't understand, at all. Her mind was trying to find the logic behind his requests, why he was asking her to breakfast but she didn't get it. Part of her wondered if he was asking because he felt bad about what had happened. The thought of him pitying her made her glare slightly at the man. She didn't like that thought, but Warren didn't let it phase him.

He just stood there, waiting for her answer and hoping it was yes. He wasn't brash enough, careless or arrogant enough to assume he would be able to slip back into her life after something that bad had happened only the night before, but he was determined. He was determined to at least rekindle the friendship they had. He had spent so long hating her, wasting energy on avoiding the mere thought of her and ignoring the twinge of heartache their breakup still brought, that he was just tired now. He was tired of trying to avoid the hurricane that was Aryana. It seemed like no matter what he did to avoid her, she would sweep back into his life and shake it to the foundation regardless.

"So come on, let's get some food." he told her, a smile playing at his lips.

"Sure." she replied unsurely, still staring blankly at the man. "Can I change?"

He shrugged, noticing her pajamas.

"I'm sure we can head to a Waffle House or something where that's the latest fashion." he teased.

She glared at the man and reached for her bag, pulling it into the bathroom with her and grumbling under her breath.

Warren knew this was probably a bad idea but what the hell. He wasn't known for being a rational person anyway. Where was the fun in that?


	25. Chapter 25

**I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to you guys that read this story. I really do appreciate it. I wanted to let you know I have only one chapter left and it's kind of an epilogue instead of a drawing it out longer but if you guys want to mid chapters or something extra, feel free to let me know. I'll gladly oblige! Thank you again so much!****  
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**Chapter 25**

Warren and Aryana had made their way to the local breakfast joint, seeing a few people from the night before at school and waving to them, making polite conversation when it was called for, and walking inside. They were seated by an overly happy blond woman, girl rather, who wouldn't stop giggling at everything Warren said or did, which wasn't much, and glaring at Aryana before leaving. The young woman was used to that from teenaged girls. For some reason, she had yet to date a man that didn't merit some kind of glower from someone else.

The two sat in a booth towards the back corner in front of a window that over looked the scenic parking lot. The smell of pancakes, waffles, syrup and bacon made her stomach growl louder than she would have liked. Warren chuckled, hearing the action and noticing her cross her arm over her stomach to try and silence it.

"Hungry?" he teased.

She narrowed her eyes on the man slightly but yeah, she was. Starving as a matter of fact. They each reached for the menus left on the table and looked through their selections.

"Hi there!"

The chipper voice made both of them stiffen slightly, neither paying enough attention to realize their waitress had come walking up. Aryana laughed to herself when it ended up being the eighteen or so year old that had led them to their seats, and she wouldn't take her eyes off Warren.

"My name's Becky and I'll be your server this morning. So, can I get you guy anything?"

Despite speaking to both of them, her eyes never left the young man, her smile wide. Warren glanced up and her briefly, seeing the nearly painfully wide smile she wore and looked to Aryana.

"You know what you want?" he asked her.

Aryana took a breath, her eyes still glazing over the breakfast menu.

"You're paying right?" she asked with a smile, looking over the laminated paper to him.

Warren seemed to weigh the options but nodded, he had already told her he would.

"Okay." she chimed with a smile. Reluctantly, Becky turned her attention to Aryana and waited. "I'll have a stack of three buttermilk pancakes, bacon, eggs and a hash brown."

Warren raised a brow to the young woman with the monstrous appetite.

"How do you want your eggs?" Becky asked with a lack luster tone.

"Scrambled." Aryana replied, setting her menu down and smiling as kindly and sarcastically as she could manage. "With a glass of tea and water too. Thank you so much."

A brief and annoyed smile touched Becky's face as she scribbled down the order before turning to Warren again, her attitude changing substantially.

"And you?" she cooed.

"The same." Warren replied, shaking his head at Aryana before setting his own menu down.

"I'll get that right out for you." she smiled, seeming slightly crestfallen that the man hadn't bothered giving her a second look before scurrying off.

"I don't think Becky likes me very much." Aryana joked slightly. "But she loooves you."

Warren cringed a bit and shook his head.

"She's probably still in high school." he replied with a sigh, leaning back into the mildly stuffed back of the booth, propping his arms up along the back. "Besides, I'm pretty over blondes."

"I bet she'd dye it for you."

Warren raised a brow to the woman openly mocking him.

"You're loving this aren't you?"

She shrugged as another waitress walked by with some ridiculously delicious smelling food that made her stomach turn al the more with hunger.

"Makes me feel better about my shit life the past couple of days." she replied, her eyes turning back to him. "So yeah, I kind of am."

She let a smile touch her lips but it wasn't the most convincing he had seen. He could tell she wasn't excited about what she was going to have to go through the next few days, weeks or maybe longer. He as curious about what she was going to do, silently hoping se might think what the hell and stay, but he knew it wasn't that easy.

"When you heading home?"

She shrugged again.

"My flight leaves around seven tonight. I don't know though. I kind of want to give Jason time to get his stuff out of my loft." she sighed, running her fingers through her hair and ruffling it slightly. "Then again, I don't really want him unsupervised either."

"I think your stuffs safe." he replied with a dry smile. "I think he might be too scared to steal any of it."

She let a weak laugh leave her lips as Becky came back with a tray of drinks and began setting them down in front of Warren. When she had moved to Aryana, setting down her tea, Becky let the tray tilt just enough for the glass of water to topple free and land directly onto the young woman. Ice cold water saturated Aryana, forcing her muscles to seize from the temperature before it adjusted itself. Her shirt was drenched, her jeans, the table and seat all around her dripped with the water that had spilled.

"Oh my god." Becky gasped, sounding barely genuine. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine." she growled, swatting the water from her shirt before standing. Eyes of the patrons that had seen everything were on the young woman that seemed to be steaming. She looked to Warren, her eyes flashing black for a moment. "I'll be right back."

He nodded, his hand over his mouth as he silently prayed she wouldn't light the high school girl on fire as she walked off. Becky quickly set the tray down and smiled flirtatiously with the man as she used the towel she already had to begun to clean up the water.

"I'm so sorry." she sighed, sounding anything but, as she wiped up. "I didn't mean to get water on your sister."

Warren raised a brow to her, remaining silent for the most part.

"Sister?" he repeated.

"Well yeah." she replied, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear and throwing the charm on pretty thick again. "I mean, she's wearing a ring but you aren't so I figured she was probably your sister or something."

Warren sighed, realizing something Aryana probably already knew. The water was intentional and Becky had done it to get a chance to talk to Warren alone. He shook his head lightly before leaning forward to talk to her.

"Look," he said quietly, trying to keep the people around from hearing him. "You're pretty,"

"Thanks." she chimed happily, smiling wide and blushing. "I think you're really hot too."

Warren smiled briefly.

"But," he continued. Her smile faded almost instantly. "If you drop another drink or food on my fiancée again, I'm going to have to talk to your manager."

Becky looked almost horrified with what he had said, her face slightly whiter than before. Warren had been kind, lying his ass off but nice, about telling her off and kept the annoyance from his voice but he wanted his point to come across. She seemed to get it instantly.

Slowly Becky nodded and went about wiping up the rest of the water just as Aryana came walking back, bone dry. Warren was sure she had lit herself up in the bathroom to dry the liquid, saving herself time and embarrassment but she had likely waited until she was alone instead of scaring the straights. When she walked back to the booth, Becky was leaving with the tray and her head down, not looking at either Warren nor Aryana. The young woman looked confused at the man sipping his water.

"Did you yell at her?" she asked, slipping into her seat.

"No." Warren replied with a shake of his head.

"Well why does she looks so depressed?" she asked, Warren shrugging. "What'd you say to her?"

"Nothing." he lied.

She narrowed her eyes, not believing anything he said as she drank some of her tea before adding sugar.

The two forced pleasantries for a moment before their food came. Again, just like before, Becky didn't meet either of their eyes only adding to Aryana's confusion.

"Seriously," she asked, waiting until the young woman was gone. "What did you do to her? Threaten to eat her soul or something?"

Warren laughed whether he meant to or not at her random accusation, still sprinkling salt on his eggs and shaking his head.

"No." he chuckled. "Anyway, you really a councilor?"

She nodded, taking the salt and mimicking his action.

"Yup. For about four years now I guess." she replied.

"But you around people? Isn't that out of your comfort zone?"

"Hey," she snapped lightly at his open mocking. "No."

Warren smiled at her lack of response.

"Well what about you? A lawyer right?"

He nodded, eying her slightly.

"Something wrong with that?"

She cocked a brow to the man.

"Helping people? You? Don't you hate just about every living thing in the world?"

"Not everything." he answered simply, taking a bite of his pancakes. "Besides, I'm a prosecutor."

She laughed and shook her head in slight disbelief.

"Of course you are." she mused.

The two ate their food and had a rather decent and civil conversation, catching up like normal people would. It was nice.

The two paid, Warren leaving a decent tip because Aryana made him after suspecting he yelled at Becky, and went for a walk down the street to try and burn off some of their food. They walked for a little while before Aryana realized how late it was. She still had to pack and say goodbye to the Strongholds before heading home. Warren agreed to take her back to the hotel.

"I had fun." Aryana said, making her way off the man's bike.

"Yeah, me too." he replied, genuinely smiling this time.

There was a bit of awkwardness that was moving into the air and neither of them were sure what to do to make it stop.

"I guess I should get going then." she finally offered.

Warren nodded slowly and stood, moving towards the young woman for a hug. Aryana was more than willing to do so, hugging him tightly as he did to her. The two stood there for longer than they would have with most, Aryana inhaling the musty scent of the old leather jacket mixed with the cologne he always wore. Warren rested his chin on the young woman's head and could smell the flowery scent that always accompanied her. This moment, for them both, was the culmination of a relatively perfect day, at least as perfect as either of them were capable of having. Hesitantly, they parted though didn't step far back from each other, both still technically within the others' arms.

"So," Aryana said, in a quiet voice. "What do we do now?"

Warren shrugged.

"I don't know." he answered honestly. "Eight years is a long time."

She nodded slowly, looking away for a moment before meeting his warm chocolate eyes.

"Yeah, long time." she sighed, taking a step back out of his arms. "See you next reunion then?"

Warren chuckled at her joke and nodded slowly.

"It's a date." he replied with a smile, taking a step forward and leaning in.

Aryana felt her heart skip a beat and her eyes close as he lightly grazed her cheek, kissing it softly. She felt he fire that lingered when she slowly stood upright again.

"Hopefully sooner."

"Yeah," she blushed. "Well, you've got my number."

He nodded and watched as she took a few steps back from the man.

"Later Sparky." she smiled, lightly biting her bottom lip before turning around and moving towards the hotel.

He waved lightly though she didn't see it, the smile still on his face.

"See ya Firefly." he chuckled, straddling his bike again and setting off.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

Aryana was sitting in her bedroom throwing the last bit of her stuff into the box. She sighed, pulling the bit of her hair that had come loose from the tie behind her ear. She was tired of packing, tired of cleaning and just plain tired. But, she had to be out soon.

Determined to get rid of everything in her life that had grown old, which seemed to be nearly all of it, Aryana had decided on some changes. When she had come back to her apartment, everything that had once belonged to Jason was gone. She hadn't realized how much useless crap the man had left there, probably because she had thrown it all into the extra room so it wasn't in the way.

A ringing phone brought her just the excuse she wanted to stop packing. Too happily, Aryana sprang up and ran for her cell phone, answering the call before she had the chance to see who it was. She wished she had.

"Hello?" she answered.

There was a pause, long enough to make her wonder if they hadn't hung up. With a raised brow, she glanced at her phone and soon realized why. She growled to herself.

"The hell do you want asshole?" she demanded.

"_When the hell are you going to mail me my ring?"_

"Are you serious? _That's_ why you're calling me? For the ring?"

"_I paid for it. I should get it back so I can sell it."_ He defended.

"You know what? You're right." She replied, slipping the ring off her fingers and closing her palm around it. A flame encompassed her closed hand before disappearing. She opened it, revealing nothing more than a puddle of molten metal and gems. "I'll mail it today. Okay?"

"_Fine."_ He grumbled, hanging up without saying goodbye.

Aryana rolled her eyes, moving her hand this way and that as she walked into the kitchen. The silver metal swayed around the middle of her open hand, running like a thick paint with diamonds getting stuck here and there.

When she made it to her sink, she turned on the cold water and stuck her hand underneath the stream. Steam billowed from the metal in her palm, spewing from her hand as it cooled the metal. A minute or two passed and the steam finally dissipated allowing her to turn the water off. Aryana smiled at the lump of ugly metal, turning her hand over and letting it fall onto the counter top with a clank.

"Sell that you jackass." She smiled, going back into her room to finish packing.

She took her seat again, wrapping up her trinkets from all over when her phone rang again. She growled loudly, reaching for it and ready to yell.

"Jesus Christ, you'll get your ring back okay?" she snapped angrily.

There was a brief pause on the other end of the phone before someone spoke up.

"_He's making you give him back the ring?"_

Aryana felt cold sweep through her back. Guilt.

"Oh god Joyce," she groaned. "I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm sorry. I thought you were Jason."

The woman on the other end of the phone laughed lightly.

"_It's okay dear. I understand. Warren told me about what happened."_

"Really?"

"_Well, he wasn't very nice about it if it makes you feel better."_

Aryana could hear the smile in the woman's voice and did the same, propping the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she went back to packing.

"Anyway," she smiled. "What are you up to?"

"_Oh nothing really. I was a bit disappointed you didn't come and say goodbye to me before leaving."_

Aryana groaned, hitting herself in the face with her palm.

"I'm so sorry. I was going to miss my plane and I hadn't planned on being out all day, plus Layla…" she began to babble.

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah."_ Joyce teased. "_You can make it up to me."_

"Name it." Aryana smiled, wrapping a small statuette and putting it in the box beside her.

"_Some back for another visit. A real one this time."_

"Oh uh…" she paused for a moment, trying to think of something to say. "That's a long way Joyce, I don't know."

"_Oh don't give me that."_ She teased. _"I know you're moving back."_

Aryana perked, her face twisted in confusion.

"I'm what now?"

"_Moving back."_ Joyce repeated, her voice shifting slightly. _"Aren't you?"_

"No, not that I know of. Why?"

"_Well, you're building a house on the lot. I just thought you were coming back since you said you'd never sell it."_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." She snapped, sitting up a bit straighter than before. "Someone's building a house there?"

Joyce paused, just as confused as Aryana was.

"_How do you not know any of this?"_

Aryana shrugged as though she was talking to the woman in person, her mind swimming.

"That is soo illegal. I wonder why no one called me. It's not like they have permission and I doubt they have the permits."

"_So does this mean you're not coming home?"_ she asked with a sad sigh.

"Well I guess I have to now to put an end to this before it gets too far." She replied, slightly annoyed.

There was another pause on the other end of the line, one that she didn't like.

"_About that…"_Joyce muttered.

"What?" she asked with a sighed.

"_They're almost done."_

"What?" she snapped. "But… how? It's a house. A _house_. Those things don't pop up over night."

"_They started building it right after you left."_

"Oh my head hurts." Aryana groaned, planting her face in her palm.

It had been almost six months since her visit to Maxville for their ill-fated reunion. Six months of getting everything straight, or getting her life in order and now something like this was happening. It was a headache in the making. She was going to have to go to court, she knew it, just to get this crap taken care of and she didn't want to do it. And how could no one, not a single one of her friends, tell her a house was being built?

"This is going to suck." She moaned before taking a deep breath. "Well, it looks like I'll be heading that way."

"_Oh good!"_ Joyce sang happily, apparently indifferent to the reason for the sudden visit. _"You're more than welcome to stay here with me sweetheart if you want to."_

Aryana laughed lightly and shook her head at the crazy woman on the other end of the phone.

"I might take you up on that." She replied, unsure of how long everything would take and not wanting to pay for a hotel the whole time. "I'll have to call you later okay? I need to call Layla."

"_Alright dear. I'll be here. Bye!"_

"Bye." She laughed, hanging up and immediately calling Layla.

"_Hey Aryana."_ Layla answered happily.

"How come you didn't tell me there's a house being built in the lot?" she demanded, stunning Layla for a moment.

"_What? I thought you were the one doing it?"_

"No. I'm pretty sure I would have mentioned that at some point."

"_Well yeah but it could have been a surprise."_

"To me maybe." She sighed. "Why can't I escape Maxville? Huh? Every time I get out, it just _sucks_ me back in."

Layla laughed happily on the other side of the phone, unable to stop for a moment.

"_Sorry? I don't know what you want me to say."_

The young woman just groaned and fell back, sprawling out on the ground but landing on a roll of half used duct tape. She winced, pulling it out and tossing it away from her.

"I'm going to have to come back, go to the court house and probably kick some family out of their house." She sighed.

"_You're going to kick little Timmy and Sally out of their new house?" _Layla mocked.

"Do they really have kids?"

"_I don't know."_ She giggled. "_Any time I've driven by to check, there's only workers. I don't think I've ever seen people, like a family or something."_

"How did they even get permission? I didn't give it."

"_Maybe they thought it was abandoned?"_ she offered.

"Yeah well, I have the property tax receipts to prove its not." She argued. Layla laughed again. "Maybe Peace can give me a hand? He's got connections right? In the legal system?"

"_I don't know."_ Layla giggled. "_Wait, you're still talking to him?"_

Aryana bristled slightly.

"Sometimes…" she mumbled.

"_Yeah right."_

"So I talk to him every couple weeks or so, give me a break."

"_I didn't say there was something wrong with it. Jeeze. Bite my head off crazy lady."_ She teased. _"Kind of nice you're not trying to kill him anymore. What do you talk about?"_

"We don't talk. We text."

"_Oh that's just stupid."_

"Hey!" she snapped. "Nuh-uh."

"_Very mature."_

"Oh leave me alone. He'll ask how I'm doing. I'll reply, ask the same and that's basically it. We aren't _besties_."

She could practically hear Layla rolling her eyes on the other side of the phone.

"_Well, do you want a hand with this house thing? I bet me and Will could figure it out so you don't' have to fly all the way out here."_

"No offense, but I think Gaia and the Captain walking into the courthouse trying to find out why someone's building a house might be a little much." She joked. "I'll do it. Besides, something tells me the bureaucrats are going to be jerks about it."

"_Probably. I'm glad its not me."_ She laughed.

"Thanks." Aryana groaned. "Call you when I'm in town?"

"_You got it. See you then."_

Aryana said her goodbyes and ended the call. She lay there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about the hell she was about to have to go through. She hated dealing with stuff like this and even more so now that Layla put the thought of these people having little kids in her mind. She wasn't looking forward to producing who knows how much paperwork, signing god knows what and talking to infinite amounts of people. She groaned again, covering her face with her hands.

"And the house is almost done." She mumbled to herself.

As she thought about what she was going to do, something else crossed her mind. A wicked smile touched her lips. It had been a while since she had seen Andrea. Maybe she should pay the crazy bitch a visit?

The thought of causing someone pain or making them miserable made her happy, happier than it should and gave her the resolve to go back to Maxville. It was a mean thing to think fun, but with her own hell she wanted to be sure to spread it around. Besides, Andrea had tried to kill her.

With a smile, Aryana went about preparing for the visit back home.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Aryana groggily got into her rental car after a long red-eye flight. She wanted to get this thing over as soon as possible and the early flight helped, it just took its toll. She yawned, throwing her bags into the back including a briefcase with every bit or paperwork she had in regards to the lot. Slamming the trunk shut, she made her way out of the airport and towards the house. She wanted to see what the hell was being built on _her_ land.

The thought just pissed her off more, and that was saying something given the past week she had before getting to Maxville. Apparently Jason wasn't happy with the state she had sent her ring back to him in, but she didn't care. She cared about the moving guys she had to pay to put her stuff in storage and the real estate company that was jacking her around in the sale of her house. She was pissed because of the long flight between the snore master and his buddy. She had an all around bad start to what she already knew would be a bad day, and she kind of wanted to take it out on someone.

She came to the neighborhood faster than she thought she would, and saw the workers making their way towards the house, steaming cups of coffee in their hands. She pulled up, parking across the street on the opposite corner and finally saw what was being built.

"Wow…" she muttered to herself, more impressed than she thought she would have been.

It was a two story building, old architecture that mimicked the Queen Ann or Victorian styled homes. True, it looked out of place in the neighborhood, but it was a nice house all the same. The siding was missing but the walls were up, showing the frame and size of the beast of a house. The wrap around porch was finished, nearly every wall covered in wide windows and an impressive driveway to boot. She almost felt bad, taking it back. Maybe she would just sell it to the people for cheap and be done with it for good.

Agreeing internally to that fact, Aryana turned off the car and walked towards the contractors. They were talking about what needed to be done, appointments with the cement company, landscaping people, whatever else as she walked up.

"Hey," she called, alerting them to the newcomer. "Which one of you guys is the boss?"

"Me." A burley, six foot plus man responded, walking forward and eying the young woman. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah. I was wondering who hired you guys to do this job? It's a nice house." She said simply.

The man returned to their makeshift table set up on the back of a tailgate and reached for the clipboard that apparently held everything important. He scanned through the pages, walking towards the young woman as he did.

"A Miss…" he muttered, finding the name finally. "Gi… Ga… Gehen…"

Her face turned dark as she scowled.

"Gehenna?" she asked with a growl.

"Yeah, that's it." He replied, lowering the clipboard and looking at her. "That's the chick."

"Bullshit." She snapped, surprising all of them.

"Hey lady," he said, trying to calm the crazy person. "That's the name on the paper so that's who called us out here."

"Bullshit." She repeated. "Because I'm Gehenna and I sure as hell didn't call you out here."

"You're this Aryana chick?" he asked, glancing at the name one more time before her again.

Aryana was stunned, that's all she could think to classify it as. Here she was thinking someone had stolen her property when it turns out, they stole her.

"Yeah. I'm that chick." She snapped back. "Have you ever even seen this person?"

"No." he answered, shaking his head. "Got the call, got the check, doing the job."

He spoke so matter-of-factly, she couldn't help but get even more pissed off by what she was hearing. She felt her fingers began to tingle and knew she was about to have herself a bar-b-q.

"Oh _hell_ no." she yelled, turning abruptly and making her way to the car, speeding off and heading to the courthouse.

She wasn't about to wait now. The contractors stood there, staring at the speeding car before it disappeared.

"Crazy broad." He mumbled to himself before ushering the others back to work.

0o0

Aryana received a speeding ticket, another thing to add to the day of shit she was dealing with, before making it to the courthouse. She was fuming and had to constantly tell herself to clam down otherwise something bad was going to happen.

Perhaps bursting into a courthouse, even one this small, wasn't a good idea. It tends to startle people, some of which carry guns and handcuffs. She wouldn't recommend it.

She was grateful to those willing to help the crazy lady but she was getting sideways glances from the cops ever since her less than graceful entrance. They didn't even register to her right now as the woman behind the counter told her what was going on. Aryana had never been so grateful for the lack of residential development in her life than she was right now. It really cut down on the lines.

"Well, Miss Gehenna, my files say here that everything's in order. They have all of the right paperwork, the permits, everything needed to build a home."

"But that's impossible." She said, trying to keep the edge from her voice. "I never did any of that. I never signed anything, I still own the freaking lot, so how can someone just build something on it? And use my name no less?"

She had begun to raise her voice and when the cop in the corner stiffened, she quickly calmed herself.

"I'm sorry." She muttered, knowing this wasn't the woman's fault.

The woman nodded slowly, apparently used to being yelled at anyway, and went about clicking whatever on her computer. She was staring intently at the screen as she continued but it wasn't her lack of speech that started to bother Aryana. It was the expression on the woman's face. Slowly, her face began to shift into confusion, getting worse the longer she types.

"What?" Aryana asked, fearing something else might be wrong.

"Well that's odd…" she muttered mostly to herself.

"What?" she demanded. "What's odd?"

"Well, it says here that anything that has to deal with this particular case has to be brought to _Holden and Marks_."

"Who?"

"It's a law firm in Los Angeles." She replied. "Apparently they have priority over this particular file. You'll have to go talk to them."

Aryana sighed, her forehead slamming into the countertop making everyone around her jump; sure it had to hurt despite her not letting on.

"Great." She mumbled. "Who do I have to talk to there?"

"Whoever is in charge of their property contracts." She suggested. "I can give you their number."

The young woman stood upright again and sighed, her forehead pink as she nodded.

"Please."

The woman behind the desk forced a smile and wrote down the information Aryana would need, handing it to her.

"Thank you." She replied, turning to leave.

Before Aryana was out of the courthouse, she was on the phone with a law firm. This was shaping up about as well as she thought it was going to.

"_Holden and Marks, how may I direct your cal?"_ the lady on the other end asked happily.

"Benjamin Rodgers please." She sighed.

"_One moment."_ The woman replied, indifferent to the tone Aryana had used.

Elevator music played as she waited for the man to answer the phone, a horrible rendition of Kenny G. Though, to be honest, she wasn't sure what a good rendition would have been. Still she listened, already making it to her car and sitting for a while before the man answered.

"_Benjamin Rodgers,_" he said simply.

"Hi." Aryana replied curtly. "Are you currently in charge of whatever it is being done to 3981 E. Chapman Road in Maxville California?"

"_I'd have to ask my secretary. What's this in regards to?"_

"I own that land, and someone is building a house. A house that's being built in my name, on my property and I didn't approve it."

"_I'm afraid I don't…"_

"I didn't give anyone permission to build on my property let alone use my name." she snapped, losing her patience. "I want to know what's going on."

She seemed to have startled the man enough to either take her seriously, or consider hanging up. She wasn't sure which until he finally spoke up again.

"_Well ma'am, if you would like to make an appointment, I'm sure we can figure this out quickly."_

She openly growled and evil sound.

"Fine." She grumbled. "When?"

"_I believe I have an opening tomorrow at two. You'll have to confirm with my secretary."_

She fought the urge to ask if the man knew anything on his own and agreed, being put on hold once again until another woman answered the phone. Aryana set up the appointment and was told to bring everything she had with her. She agreed and hung up, nearly lighting her phone on fire before regaining control. She was not happy and it didn't look like it was going to change any time soon, the anger only added to with the drive she was going to have to take to LA.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Aryana had gotten in contact with everyone she had promised she would call when she got into town, stopped by and saw Joyce and received a crushing hug in response. She had to admit; being around everyone had calmed her down a lot, until they asked her to tell them what was going on. Then, the anger would come back and she would have to breathe to make it go away.

Right now she was still pissed, heading down to Los Angeles to try and get everything settled. Hopefully, the idiot would have some kind of clue to what was going on but she doubted it. She felt like she would have better luck with the man's secretary than him. She just shook her head, listening to her music as she drove.

She had changed into an uncomfortable outfit. She wore the black dress she had bought to replace her homecoming dress with a blazer over it, her hair pulled back and her paperwork. She felt like an idiot, uncomfortable in the outfit but she didn't have a choice. She had to be appropriate whether she wanted to or not and try not to yell at people who had nothing to do with what was going on.

When she made it to the law firm, she was glad she didn't have to wait long to see Rodgers. She was led into his office and eyed the man behind the desk. He smiled at her, standing to shake her hand. He was shorter than her, not just because she was in heels but would be regardless. He had pasty skin that rarely saw the daylight, an expensive and tailored suit with one of the best comb-overs she had ever seen.

"Have a seat Miss Gehenna." He smiled, offering her the chair across from him. She sat, placing the briefcase next to the chair and just stared at him. "So, what is it I can help you with?"

"Tell me what's going on." She said flatly.

"Oh right. The property thing." He replied, going to his computer and typing.

Aryana glared at the man. Was that a technical term, _the property thing_? Seriously? How long had he been there? A year or two if that?

"Huh… well that's odd." He muttered.

Her glare deepend.

"What?" she asked with a clenched jaw. He was the second person to say something like that to her and she didn't like it.

"Well, it seems like I'm not in charge of this contract."

Her eyes shot wide in disbelief.

"Are you serious? I thought you were the property guy?" she demanded.

"Ordinarily yes but this one seems to be under someone else's name."

"Who's?" she sighed, not liking that she was going to have to deal with yet another lawyer.

"Mr. Peace."

Aryana shot upright, planting her palms on the man's desk and frightening him.

"What?" she shrieked, grabbing his computer and turning it around.

Sure enough, his name was attached to hers in regards to her lot. She glared at the screen, feeling her body want nothing more than to ignite the longer she read.

"I'm going to kill him." She hissed, turning and grabbing her briefcase, storming out of the man's office and on her way to find the one she wanted.

Aryana stormed through the halls towards the office she had been smart enough to ask directions to. Before heading out on her tangent, she had a moment of clarity, asking Rodgers' secretary where the hell Peace was hiding. With 'directions' she headed out, her anger reaching its pinnacle.

She rounded another corner and saw the name reflecting on a small plaque outside the ugly foe wood door. Her glare deepened as she walked towards it, ignoring the young woman trying to stop her. Aryana grabbed the knob and threw the door open. Warren was sitting at his desk, talking to someone she didn't even notice. Aryana had her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing between black and their normal gray.

"Heeey Aryana…" he muttered, a bit surprised to see her standing in his office. "How's it going?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I'm in a meeting."

"That's okay." The man in the other suit said, standing and adjusting himself. "I'll talk to you later Peace."

Warren glared at his friend as he walked passed the fuming woman and out the door, closing it behind him.

"So, what brings you here?"

She cocked a brow to the man.

"Really Peace? How long did you think it would take me to figure out you were building a house on my property."

Understanding washed over his face.

"Oh."

"Yeah," she snapped. "Oh. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Why are you so pissed?"

She looked stunned.

"You want to build a house, do it on your own land. Don't use mine just because it's there. And what the hell are you using my name for? How'd you even get them to do it?"

"I thought you'd be happy."

"Happy?" she asked with a disbelieving laugh. "You're using my name for this shit."

"Yeah." He answered simply as though it was obvious.

She couldn't believe how arrogant he was being. In fact, he acted like he didn't even care, like she was the one being over the top for being mad. Her anger began to rise the longer she stood there and she wasn't calming down any time soon. Before she could stop herself, Aryana's hands lit up in white and blue flames, her eyes turning black. Warren seemed mildly concerned, if at all. That only fueled her anger, his indifference.

"Why are you so pissed?"

"What the hell gives you the right?"

"It's for you."

She was ready to open her mouth and snap at whatever he was going to say, but what came out wasn't what she had expected. Her head tilted in confusion, the fire dissipating and her eyes shifting back to normal.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked confused.

"The house. It's for you." He repeated.

Aryana's head hurt as she tried to wrap her mind around what he was saying.

"What?" was all that came out.

Warren laughed slightly, standing up and buttoning his jacket.

"The house," he started, speaking slower than before. "Is for you. That's why it's in your name. It's your house."

"How… why… what?"

His smile widened as he walked to the door and opened it.

"Don't hurt yourself okay? I don't want to have to call an ambulance because you had a stroke."

She glared at the man as he walked out, leaving the door open behind him. Not willing to have him walk off without explaining himself, she followed after him, catching up quickly.

"What the hell do you mean it's my house?"

"You really don't get that part do you?" he teased. "It's not complicated."

"Forgive me for not understanding why _you_ would build _me_ a house. How silly of me." She snapped sarcastically.

"Oh it wasn't my idea."

Now she was really lost. Shaking her head, she grabbed his arm and forced him to stop and face her.

"Enough sidestepping Peace, spill it."

He just stood there for a moment with that arrogant smile that she hated, letting her know he knew something she didn't.

"It was Tony's. I just gave him a hand."

Her brow creased slightly.

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would Tony want to build me a house?"

"He said he wanted you to have some roots somewhere." He said, putting his hands in his pockets. "He drew it, designed it, found the right people and built it. I just helped with the legal side and made sure to try and keep it a secret until it was done. Still found out didn't you?"

She glared at his taunts.

"Your mom told me."

Warren sighed and shook his head.

"Of course she did." He replied. "So if you're going to burn down someone's office, burn down his. At least he's at the school."

She mocked him openly.

"Nah. That's actually kind of sweet."

"Whoa. It's sweet when he does it but when you think it's me you go homicidal?"

She cocked a brow to the man.

"Looks that way." She replied sarcastically. "I like him more than you."

"Ha. Ha. Ha."

She smiled before something else crossed her mind.

"Where did he get that kind of money? Teaching doesn't pay _that_ much."

Warren shrugged.

"He's a smart kid. Who knows?" he said simply. "So, how long are you going to be in town this time?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"Why is it everyone asks me that?"

"Cause you don't live on this side of the country and you have a habit of running away?" he offered.

"Yeah well…" she mumbled, not liking that he was right. "I don't know. I have a house now."

He let a smile touch the corner of his lips and shook his head at the crazy lady.

"Well, if you're hanging around for a while, give me a call okay? I bet the Hippie's dying to throw some kind of house warming party for you when that place is done."

She laughed; sure Layla would do just that and nodded.

"All right Sparky, I'll do that."

He nodded.

"Well, I've got to get to work. I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure. Later."

Warren nodded again and with a smile, left. Aryana stood there for a moment, unable to believe what had happened as she went back to his office and took her case, making her way out of the building. Aryana left, making an internal note to kick Tony's ass. Soon.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Tony fumbled with his keys for a moment, trying to put everything back in his pockets with his arms filled with paperwork. He grumbled to himself as he walked through his open classroom door, so ready for the summer in the next three months. He had started counting down when one of his students made it a habit to break or blow up something just about every period they were there. It was a headache to say the least.

The young man sighed as he heaved the mass of paper onto his desk, trying to keep schedules, plans and regular paperwork from spilling into one another, his coffee still in his hands.

"Hey Tony."

The sudden voice made the young man jump. Coffee spilled from his cup and hit the floor before he could stop it, he groaned, looking up to see Aryana sitting in the front row, her feet up on the desk and a strange smile on her face.

"Good morning."

"Hey… Aryana. What brings you to Sky High?" he asked with an almost nervous smile.

"Oh you know. I just happened to be in town."

"Oh yeah?" he laughed slightly.

Her smiled faded instantly as she glared.

"Cut the crap Tony. What's going on?"

"With what?"

"Oh my god. What is it with you people treating me like I'm an idiot?" she asked in disbelief. "What the hell is with the house?"

"What? You mean you don't like it?" he joked.

"Tony."

"Yeah, okay." He sighed, taking a seat in his chair. "You weren't supposed to find out until it was done. Who squealed? Peace?"

"Joyce yeah." She replied with a smile.

"Figures." He laughed. "I probably should've said something to her too."

Aryana laughed with him but she had more pressing questions at the moment.

"A house?"

Tony looked up at her and could still see the confusion about it.

"I wanted you to have something nice." He shrugged.

"A house. A two story, massive house is not some kind of present you give people Tony. I mean, am I the only one that realizes this is a building?"

He smiled and shook his head, running his fingers through his hair for a moment.

"You were the one that always told me you would find me a home, some place safe with people that loved me instead of… you know." He replied, glowering slightly at the memory of the _others_. "You did that, so it's my turn."

Aryana shook her head, still unable to understand why a house of all things would be even remotely close on a list of thank you gifts.

"You know, a bracelet would have been nice, maybe a new car or two." She offered, making the young man laugh.

He shook his head and looked down at the coffee all over the floor.

"Want to give me a hand here? This is all your fault."

She mocked the man under her breath but helped him clean up the mess that had been created.

Aryana had stayed behind for a while to talk to the man, watch in on his classes and make him nervous. It was fun, but eventually she had to leave. She had spoken to Tony beforehand, telling him goodbye and that she still didn't understand why he would do something like that. He just laughed at her, openly, and told her to stop thinking or she'd hurt herself. He was a smart ass but she loved him regardless.

Aryana made it down to her car parked in a parking lot below the school and put her jacket back on. She drove to her old neighborhood and found herself sitting outside the house that was having the final touches put on it, siding and what have you. She still couldn't wrap her mind around it. This was a house, an expensive thing to just give someone. She shook her head to herself and headed down the road to Joyce's house.

0o0

Warren sat at his desk, trying to focus on the work he had before him but the words had all started to run together about an hour or so ago. He sighed, leaning back into his chair and just sat there, staring at nothing as his mind thought about everything else in the world but work.

Aryana had been in Maxville now for nearly a week and a half and he had only talked to her a small amount of times. He didn't know if she was busy or if she just didn't want to talk to him that much. He wasn't sure which one he believed more, thinking it was likely she just didn't want to talk to him.

He had thought the swagger he had learned through the years would have made her melt like it did all of the little girls he had dated since her, the off putting macho crap that seemed to draw women to most men but he had been wrong. At least, if it was working she didn't let on. He didn't really understand why not though. Worked on everyone else.

Then again, he had to remember, she knew him as a broody little teenager with rage issues. Warren laughed to himself. He couldn't believe how ridiculous he was as a kid, mean, pouty and just a plain ass. She didn't seem bothered by it though, seeing right through his crap and not afraid to get back up into his face.

Maybe his puffed up, smooth talking crap was just useless. Maybe he should just stop treating her like every other chick he had dated. She wasn't. Hell, he was pretty sure that if Aryana even found out he was playing any kind of game with her, she'd claw his eyes out or something. The thought made him shudder slightly.

Warren's phone rang before he could imagine too many unhappy things for Aryana to do to him if he pissed her off, rescuing him from any further ugliness. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell, answering it with a smile.

"Hello?"

"_Hey Warren, it's Layla. Layla Stronghold?"_

"I know who it is Hippie." He laughed. "What can I do for you?"

"_Well, I'm getting a party together. You interested?"_

"What kind of party?"

"_Me and Tony are setting up a house warming for Aryana. You think you could make it up here this Saturday?"_

Warren mused over being right. Layla couldn't help it though, she loved to celebrate, she loved to plan and she loved involving everyone around her. God only knew how she was going to be with her kid's birthday parties when she had them.

"I think I might be able to make it. She know about this?"

"_Ha, no."_ Layla laughed. _"Kind of defeats the purpose of a surprise right?"_

"She doesn't like surprises."

"_She'll get over it."_

"Or burn everyone alive."

"_Nah. You're mom's going to take her out while we set everything up. We only need about an hour or so to get everything ready. So, you in?"_

"Yeah. Why not." He smiled.

"_Good. Get here around two if you can. Okay?"_

"You got it. I'll see you then."

Layla said her farewells and hung up, beaming and Warren was sure she was probably bouncing with excitement too. She was one of those people that had the energy and happiness to almost make them annoying but there was something about Layla you couldn't help but love. She was just and all around good person who cared about everyone she knew.

The smile touched his face again as Warren attempted to o back to work. If he was going to make it to the party this weekend, he had to do his job and get through the mass of paperwork on his desk; otherwise he would have an angry flower child on his case.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

"This really necessary?" Aryana asked annoyed despite the smile touching her face.

"Only following orders." She smiled, glancing periodically at the young woman in the passenger set with the blindfold on.

Aryana shook her head as she rode blindly in the car. Was this seriously supposed to be some kind of surprise? Was she not supposed to know what was going on because that wasn't what was happening. Apparently her friends either thought, or hoped she was dumber than she was.

"Okay," Joyce said as she slowed the car to a stop. "We're here."

"Can I take this off now?"

"Nope."

The young woman grumbled under her breath as she listened to the other woman shut her door, walk around and open Aryana's for her. With her help, the young woman got out and was being led, awkwardly, to the destination. She could hear people in the distance, talking and shushing which made her laugh. She heard about eight or nine people fumbling around, their footsteps heavy, before they gathered in front of her, Joyce forcing her to stop.

"Is this really necessary? I can hear all of you standing there."

"Well just take all the fun out of it why don't you?" Layla sighed. "Fun-sucker."

Aryana laughed when she felt Joyce untying the blindfold.

"Thank you." She sighed, her vision finally free.

"Surprise!" Layla chimed happily.

Aryana shook her head at her oldest friend, unable to keep the smile from her lips. Layla was infectious; there was no other way to say it. Just being near her made you smile. Everyone was there too, everyone she knew and cared about plus two young woman she hadn't met before laced underneath Ethan and Tony's arms. She rose a brow to the young man who only blushed lightly. And then she saw the house behind them. Her mouth dropped.

"Whoa."

The house suddenly looked like it had been there for years. The grass that surrounded it was plush and full, flowers and bushes lining the foundation in beds and ivy stretching up the sides of the home making it look like nature was taking over. She knew immediately it was Layla's doing. There was no disputing it.

"Nice going flower girl." Aryana muttered in amazement.

"You should see the back."

The others laughed as Layla grabbed Aryana's arm, nearly pulling it out of its socket, and pulled her around the house to the backyard. She was right, the back was incredible.

There wasn't a fence around the property, instead a hedge about six feet tall that was barely visible in some areas where the willow trees weren't swaying in the wind. There were more flowers, trees, vines, nature spilling out of everywhere. It looked like a garden that had taken years to perfect, nestled away from everyone else. It was amazing.

But there were modern touches too. A patio had been built, large and stone where a table, a massive table at that, was set up with nearly a dozen chairs. It was already set up with bowls of snacks and colorful table clothes that would blind you if you stared at them for too long. And a grill rested not too far from the table and was just aching to be lit up rounded off the display.

"Wow." She muttered again.

"Don't get too impressed." Will smiled. "The grill's mine."

Layla shook her head at the man before the party commenced. They laughed, talked, ate copious amounts of food and enjoyed one of the only times all of them had been able to get together without the threat of a super villain looming over their heads. It actually felt a little weird but nice too.

When the sun began to set, Layla had another surprise. She walked to the light switch just next to the back door and flipped it on. Instantly, the trees and bushes were lit up with Christmas lights that had been sewn into their branches.

"You are amazing Layla, truly, truly amazing." Aryana smiled.

"Why thank you." Layla giggled, taking a bow to the group of friends who lightly applauded her accomplishments.

As the party continued into the night, their only light the ones Layla had strung but it was plenty. At some point, Ethan and his girlfriend Maggie had to leave. Aryana thanked them and hugged her friend before they left, Joyce not too far behind. Not too long after that, Zach and Magenta left to leaving Warren, Aryana, Will, Layla, Tony and his girlfriend Ashley. It was a little odd, two of the couples sitting side by side in random seats at the table while Warren and Aryana were about a chair apart.

Aryana had been stealing glances at the man all night, him doing the same when she wasn't looking. It was easier to avoid being too close to one another with that many people around, even though ninety percent of them were with their significant other, but now with the small group, it was all the more awkward.

"So you guys used to date or something?" Ashley asked suddenly.

Warren and Aryana stiffened slightly as they looked at the young woman sipping on her straw. Tony groaned, closing his eyes for a moment before leaning over to the woman and saying something to her. She seemed to realize how blatantly rude her question had been and blushed.

"Sorry." She muttered to them.

Aryana smiled but internally pictured lighting the girl on fire.

"So Aryana, guess this means you're hanging around now?" Will asked with a smart ass smile. "No more running off and hiding anywhere?"

"You know what Stronghold? You, me, arm wrestling. Right now."

"Oh god." Layla grumbled.

"You're on." He laughed scooting closer to her.

The rest of them that knew what was going on only shook their heads at the two being stupid, Will taking a seat next to Aryana, the two positioning their arms comfortably over the table. They took each other's hand and waited.

"One." Will smiled.

"Two." Aryana continued.

"Three!" they chimed in unison before suddenly snapping into action.

They struggled for a moment but only a moment. Will was so much stronger than Aryana that she wasn't above cheating. His hand inched hers closer and closer to the table top and she wasn't going to have it. Instead, she began to heat up her hand, slowly raising the temperature until he faltered.

"Cheater." He snapped, struggling to fight pass the burn. "You're cheating. No powers."

"Yeah right." She laughed.

Slowly, Aryana began to get the advantage, the man's arm moving back away and favoring her side. She nearly had him, almost to the pivotal point where she could slam his fist down when a phone rang. Will's attention instantly diverted and in that split second, Aryana had slammed his fist down into the table top, hard. Glass shattered, hitting the ground in a cascade of pieces. Layla and Ashley shrieked from the sudden crash, the others cringing. When the glass settled, Aryana opened her eyes and saw the damage done.

"Oh man…" she grumbled.

"Nice going Firefly." Warren teased, flicking the side of the table and watching a few more pieces hit the ground. "You too Stronghold."

"It was an accident." She defended. "I didn't expect him to suddenly _stop_."

"It's the phone." He said absently, the ringing still going as he searched his pockets and pulled out a bright red, flashing phone. "Go."

"Well, looks like the party's over for us." Layla sighed.

A moment later, Will snapped it shut and gave her an all too familiar look.

"Sorry guys. We have to…"

"Yeah, yeah, Go." Aryana smiled, the Strongholds saying their farewell before leaving quickly.

"We should head out too. I have a bunch of papers to grade still." Tony groaned, pushing himself out of his seat and avoiding the glass on the ground.

"Oh come on." She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Can't I get a hand with this?"

"Peace will help you out. Right man?"

"Don't get me involved." Warren replied with a smile, taking a sip of his beer.

Aryana just rolled her eyes at all of them but gave Tony a hug and said her goodbyes to him and Ashley. She watched as they walked off before turning back to the glass and spilled snacks all over the ground. She groaned.

"I can give you a hand if you want." He told her kindly.

"Nah." She sighed. "It can stay there until tomorrow. Besides, I have no idea where the broom is."

He smiled at her as she sat down in the chair next to him, still staring at the glass and spilled chips.

"It is kind of bad though isn't it?" she asked with a laugh.

"Yeah." He chuckled.

"Okay," she sighed, heaving herself back up out of her chair and walking towards the house. She made it to the back door when she realized Warren was still sitting. "Come on Sparky. You're helping."

He shook his head and stood, following the young woman into the house as she set out on the task of trying to find the broom and dust pan. She went about opening random doors, closest and whatever she could, looking for the cleaning products but she wasn't coming up with anything.

"Okay, I guess the glass is staying on the ground." She sighed, still looking absently around the kitchen.

"Or," Warren said in a sarcastic voice. "You could actually look around."

She turned and glared at the man.

"I have been." She snapped.

Warren only smiled and pointed to the area between the fridge and wall. There, just visible, was the broom.

"Well that's just stupid." She mumbled to herself, walking forward and reaching for the cleaning supplies.

When she turned, Aryana was aware of how close Warren was to her. She paused for a moment, looking up at the man staring blankly down at her.

"Can I ask you something Warren?" she asked in a quieter voice given their proximity.

He nodded.

"Why didn't you ever come after me? If you knew Andrea was full of shit, why didn't you ever come after me?"

He felt cold sweep down his back as she stared at him, waiting for him to answer her. She wasn't angry or looking for a fight. She was just curious.

"I don't know." He muttered, unsure of what really to say to her.

Her brow tensed slightly.

"That's it? You don't know?"

There was an edge to her voice but she kept it under control. She didn't want a fight, only answers to questions she hadn't been willing to ask before.

"I didn't know you wanted me to." He replied.

She let a disbelieving laugh leave her lips, looking down and shaking her head slightly.

"Okay," she said softly, nodding as she turned to walk away. "Okay."

She had only taken a few steps from the man, more than willing to leave the topic alone for now and clean up the mess when something grabbed her arm tightly. Aryana was suddenly jerked back and spun around to face the man that had grabbed her. Warren stared down at her with the same intense eyes though his face was still blank.

The two stood there for a moment, Aryana waiting for the man to speak, to do anything that would justify him grabbing her like he did. Warren had too much moving through his mind, too many thoughts that wouldn't shut up and all wanted to come spilling out of his mouth at the same time. There was so much he wanted to tell her and explain that he was having trouble focusing on one simple point.

"I'm sorry." He finally managed to say.

Aryana looked confused for a moment, staring up at the man.

"I'm sorry." He repeated again.

In the end, it was the only thing that needed to be said, the only thing that he had wanted to and should have told her. It was the only thing she really wanted to hear. Without her permission, Aryana's eyes watered slightly as the sincerity of his words began to sink in.

Warren's hand came up and lightly touched her cheek. Her skin felt like the same fire that radiated within him as he gently rubbed his thumb across her cheek. She just looked up at the man, dangerously close to becoming lost again. Her mind coming back to her, Aryana cleared her throat and broke their eye contact.

"So what," she asked in a shaky voice. "You apologize and everything's supposed to be okay?"

He eyed her for a moment, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as she tried to stay strong, the emotion not even touching her words.

"Why not?" he asked with a shrug.

"Why not? Because you think you can come in here and be charming and get me to melt. I don't think so Peace."

He raised a brow to her, inching closer, undeterred by her words.

"I don't think so…" she muttered when he was only inches from touching her lips.

Her eyes closed as he kissed her gently, barely touching her as though testing the waters, making sure she wasn't going to push him away. He felt relief sweep through him when she didn't. His hand moved from her cheek into her hair, cradling the back of her head to him.

"I've missed you." He whispered.

Aryana felt the man gently nuzzle against the side of her face as he spoke, making her heart beat to a powerful and painful speed. Her knees began to shake and she prayed internally he didn't notice the action.

"Stop…"

The word was barely more than a whisper but enough to make Warren's back tense. He pulled back from her as she stepped out of his hands and turned her back to him. He stared at her, confused and hurt that she may not have felt the same. Aryana's mind swam and her pride kicked in. She didn't want him to think she was going come running back just because he said he was sorry despite that being exactly what she wanted to do.

He watched her apprehensively for a moment that might as well have been an hour as she stood just out of arm's reach with her back to him. Part of him almost feared she was about to say she had gotten back with Jason. But, before he knew it, she spun around and grabbed his shirt. She pulled him into her and pressed her lips firmly to his, almost crushing them beneath hers.

He wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her, Aryana holding onto the man for dear life it seemed. They kissed each other with the repressed passion they had tried to ignore. Air grew thin as they pawed at one another before finally breaking free when they had to breathe. Warren rested his forehead on hers as her knees trembled again. He could feel them and smiled.

"I love you."

Aryana pulled back and looked heavily at the man. He stared down at her, reflecting everything she felt coursing through her. A smile touched her lips as she kissed him tenderly again before pulling back.

"I love you too." She replied.

And she did, no matter how much she claimed to hate him or even tried, she had and would always love the man.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Birds chirped and sang their hearts out thanks to Layla's mom and her talent. She had apparently convinced the nearby birds to hang around in the trees and sing their beautiful songs for the event. The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun slowly setting and bringing with it a few shades of orange and pink that lingered in the distance. There was a gentle breeze floating through the air taking with it the white ribbons that had been tied to the chairs and in the branches of the trees, the guests sitting in their seats and admiring the beautiful flowers that seemed to have grown for no reason. Exotic blooms that had no business being there sprouted from decorated terracotta pots with nothing more than a bit of soil within, their fragrance wafting around and surrounding all of them.

The groom was standing at the front of the long white runner on a small platform with a man in black. The archway that hovered over them was covered in honeysuckle, blooming with bright white and yellow flowers. He moved nervously, adjusting his stance from one foot to another as he waited, wringing his hands. His groomsmen chuckled, poking fun at the normally stoic man. He glared over his shoulder at all four of them as the photographer came up and took yet another picture, blinding him with the flash.

"Mom," he hissed quietly. "I said you could take the pictures if you'd calm down."

Joyce beamed at her son, her eyes still glistening happily.

"Not a chance." She laughed. "Smile!"

Will, Ethan, Zach and Tony all smiled wide while Warren cocked a brow to the woman as she flashed them again and disappeared.

"Crazy old bird." He mumbled to himself, going back to the butterflies in his stomach.

"Dude, calm down." Will laughed, patting the man on the shoulder. "There's no reason to be nervous."

Warren glared over his shoulder, heating it to the point Will had to pull away or risk burns.

"I'm not nervous." He grumbled.

"Liar." Zach teased.

"Oh yeah." Ethan laughed.

Back in the fabric covered gazebo, Aryana was pacing like the mad woman she had become. Magenta, Layla, Ethan's girlfriend Maggie and Tony's girlfriend Ashley just sat back and watched her pace, back and forth, back and forth, kicking her train out of her way each time.

"Okay, you have to stop." Magenta groaned, shaking her head and looking away from the woman in the gown. "You're making my head hurt."

"Its nervous energy," She replied as though she had been repeating the fact. "I can't stop."

"Well try. You're making us dizzy."

Aryana responded by sticking out her tongue like a five year old. Layla smiled and walked up to her, standing in her way to keep her from walking. She put her hands gently on Aryana's bare shoulders, forcing her to look at her.

"Just breathe." She smiled, miming a deep breath and exhaling it.

Slowly, Aryana began to do the same, calming slightly but still raging with the need to move.

"Better?"

"Eh." She replied honestly.

The others laughed at her but she couldn't help it. Almost a split second later, the white curtain door opened and Joyce walked through. Immediately she let out a loud 'awe' and the tears started falling.

"You look so beautiful." She swooned, coming forward and hugging Aryana tightly.

Aryana smiled, hugging the woman that had been so much to her tightly before pulling back. Joyce smiled at the locket that hung from the young woman's neck before turning to the other four.

"And so do you girls."

"Thank you Mrs. Peace." They smiled in response.

"Okay," Joyce finally chimed, taking a deep breath and wiping off her cheeks. "Checklist. Something old?"

"Take your pick." Aryana smiled, pointing to her necklace, her aluminum ring, the piece of cloth she had tied around her bouquet in the corner of the room.

Joyce seemed to nod approvingly at each item, including the piece of fabric that only she, Warren, Layla and Aryana new was from her dad's old prison whites that had been given to her with his possessions. She wasn't proud of what it was but it was a way for her dad to walk her down the isle.

"Something new?" Joyce continued.

"Everything else?" Aryana offered with a smile.

Joyce smiled and nodded.

"Something borrowed you already have." She sighed endearingly, seeing her grandmother's pearl earrings in Aryana's ears and her own jeweled barrette clipped near the back of her hair. "Something blue?"

"Uh…" Aryana muttered, doing an internal check of everything she had on her and shaking her head.

"I've got it." Layla smiled, walking to the bouquet and concealing it for a moment.

When the young woman moved to the side, letting people see it again, they could see the lily that had been nearest the center was now a brilliant, unnatural blue. Aryana giggled slightly before Layla eyed it. She seemed to be judging it and before anyone could say anything, she touched the bouquet again and turned about four more the same shade to even it out a bit more.

"Perfect." Aryana smiled.

"Thank you." Layla beamed.

"And now for the final piece," Joyce said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a silver coin, handing it to Aryana. "A silver sixpence in your shoe."

Aryana eyed the coin and took it.

"Really?"

Joyce nodded and with a shake of the head, Aryana took off her left shoe and slipped the coin in. She fidgeted slightly until the coin turned to body temp and all but disappeared to her.

"Now you're ready."

Aryana took a deep breath and nodded but her hands began to shake. She was incredibly nervous and for good reason. Every woman should be nervous on their wedding day, but she was excited too.

"One last picture before the ceremony. Get together girls." Joyce said, the girls all moving in together before she snapped the pictures. "Absolutely beautiful."

Before they could enjoy the moment, the music began to play quietly, alerting everyone that the ceremony was about to start. Warren watched as they guys moved to the hidden gazebo to collect their partners. He had been hoping they would stay there the whole time but he knew they had to go get the others. He took a deep breath, moving uncomfortably again as the music played. Almost time now.

Will and the others made their way into the gazebo as their dates grabbed their flowers. Each of them smiled to their date before taking their arms and leading them out. Tony kissed Ashley and told her he'd meet her out there. After all, he was walking his big sister down the isle. Joyce told them to stand together for a picture before disappearing and snapping some more.

"You look beautiful." He smiled to her, now towering over the young woman by a few inches, even in her heels.

"Thanks Tony." She replied in a shaky voice. "I'm so nervous."

He chuckled.

"Yeah, Peace is pacing too."

"Good. At least it's not just me."

He smiled again and kissed her cheek. Aryana reached for her bouquet, shaking off the bit of water at the bottom before looping her arm around his.

"Let's do this." She smiled.

Warren stood at the head of the isle, staring down at the people who slowly emerged. Will and Layla were first, of course. Layla smiled happily in her lilac spring dress, her bouquet one of the most beautiful in the bunch. Plants just loved the girl. Will beamed happily wearing the same black on black suit as the others, a deep blue kerchief that still matched the bride's maids dresses the only color on any of the men's suits. When they reached the end of the runner, he kissed her cheek and they took their spots on their respective sides. Next came Zach and Magenta, then Ethan and Maggie. Finally Ashley rounded off the bunch, smiling sweetly before taking her spot behind Maggie.

The music shifted and Warren felt his heart begin to pound in his chest. He found himself praying internally that Aryana was just as out of it as he was. He couldn't see her, only the darkness of two figures on the other side of the sheer fabric in the back. There were hedges that surrounded the area the ceremony was in, hedges the others had come out from behind, visible almost the entire time when they met in the center and walked up the isle but in the back was a beautifully hung curtain of opaque white fabric that wasn't going to reveal anything until two helpers hiding in the distance pulled them open like the curtains for a play. Layla had a hell of an imagination and flare for the dramatic.

When the audience stood, he saw Tony and Aryana walking up behind the fabric but he couldn't see anything in the ways of details. His heart kept racing as they grew closer, darker, before the curtains suddenly pulled back, revealing the two walking towards him. Tony was smiling proudly as he walked with the young woman looped around his arm while Warren felt like he might just faint. Aryana had never let him see her dress let alone in it, so 'stunned' didn't seem enough to describe the situation.

Her dress was form fitting, hugging her curves until somewhere around her knees where it seemed to gradually move out. It was a strapless gown with rouging around her bust but that was the only section. Just below it, on the dress itself, was beautiful lacework and stitching in designs that seemed to give it a modern twist on an old style. Her veil was over her face but what he could see of it matched the gown before trailing far behind her, the blue and white bouquet in her hands, front and center.

He could see her staring at him, watching him as she approached but the veil grew thicker, or more opaque, the further down it went, shielding her mouth from him and giving him no indication to whether or not she was smiling. He had a feeling she was, something he hadn't stopped doing since she appeared.

When the song began to come to an end, Aryana was presented to the preacher, Tony still at her side. Warren never wanted to push the kid out of the way as bad as he did at that moment. Aryana could see Warren moving anxiously, unable to take her eyes from him in the first place. He stood proudly in his place wearing the black on black suit and blue kerchief all of the others wore but he seemed to exude some kind of power or strength behind it. His hands had been clamped tightly in front of him, his knuckles almost white. Aryana had smiled that he had trimmed and straightened up his facial hair. Layla had told him to shave it but Aryana liked it so it stayed, his hair gently spiked and combed. He looked amazing.

"And who gives this woman away?" the old man asked with a kind smile.

"I do." Tony declared all too happily.

With that, he leaned towards her and kissed her cheek through the veil, taking his spot behind Warren instead of in the crowd.

The preacher began to say whatever it was he had planned to say. Both of them, though knowing they should be paying attention, weren't. Warren had taken Aryana's hand and the two stood respectfully in front of the man.

"Mr. Peace?"

"Hmm?" he snapped to, realizing the preacher had spoken to him.

The crowd and people who knew the man giggled and chuckled at his lack of attention while the man performing the ceremony only smiled kindly.

"Take her hands, and repeat after me." He repeated. Warren nodded. "I, Warren Alexander Peace…"

Warren took both of Aryana's hands and faced her, staring at her veil covered eyes.

"I, Warren Alexander Peace…" he repeated, his voice losing any power it ever held.

"Take you, Aryana Maleficent Gehenna, to be my wife."

He repeated again.

"I promise to be good to you, in good times and in bad, sickness and in health…"

Warren continued, his hands heating up slightly.

"And love you until the end of my days."

"And love you until the end of my days." He repeated, that bit seeming to come out easier than the rest.

Warren saw Aryana smile beneath the veil, her eyes watering slightly when the preacher asked her to repeat after him. She did, the same vows Warren had spoken, but her voice shook and turned into a whisper halfway through. He smiled crookedly at her as she took a steadying breath, her hands shaking in his. It made him feel better about his own nerves.

The preacher had instructed they exchange the rings now, Warren going first. Aryana's hand was still shaking, enough apparently for everyone to notice. There was more snickering when Warren told her to hold still. She laughed and tried to comply as Layla handed her Warren's ring. She barely got the thing on him before her hands started shaking again, repeating the words she had been told to say.

"It is my pleasure to now pronounce you husband and wife." The preacher said, Aryana releasing a relieved laugh. "You may kiss your bride."

Warren stepped forward and pulled her veil up, seeing her clearly for the first time. Aryana's eyes glistened, a few tears trailing down her rosy cheeks though she smiled happily, painfully almost. He smiled in returned and leaned forward, kissing his wife sweetly.

Applause and cheering rang out around them from the people they knew and loved before they released each other to see everyone standing around them, clapping for their union. Layla was clapping loudly, awkwardly but loudly, as she handed Aryana her bouquet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to present to you Mr. and Mrs. Warren Peace!" the preacher had to yell over their friends.

The two began their walk back down the isle, holding hands as bird seed (per Layla's mom's request) flew down from the heavens, the birds in the trees flying high into the air as though on cue. Apparently, Layla's mom promised them the banquet of bird seed if they helped her out.

The two all but ran to safety to the gazebo in the back where Aryana had stayed to get ready. Warren was smiling wide, something he hardly ever did when she was gone. He saw Aryana trying to knock the bird seed out of her curls and grabbed her arm, pulling her to him and hugging her tightly. Aryana looped her arms around his neck and smiled happily.

"Well Mr. Peace, looks like you screwed up."

He cocked a brow to her, leaning down and lightly kissing her cheek.

"How do you figure that Mrs. Peace?" he muttered quietly, noticing her tense slightly when he said her new name.

"You're never going to get rid of me now."

She heard him laugh into her shoulder and shake his head. Pulling back, Warren lightly cupped her cheek in his hand, his smile turning endearing.

"Good." He replied before kissing her again.

**And there you have it, the ending to the whole story. Hope you enjoyed it!**


End file.
